Perfect Match
by Vampire00Diaries
Summary: Stefan and Elena are best friends in high school who are both secretly in love with each other. What happens when they have to pretend to be a couple? Will their romance rise, or will their friendship fall? AU fic. STELENA!
1. Chapter 1

"The answer was D," Elena argued as she walked out of English class with Stefan Salvatore. He scoffed.

"It was definitely B." He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and chuckled at her stubbornness. Her chocolate eyes were filled with determination and denial.

"If 'none of the above' is an option, you _always _take it, Stefan. That's stuff you learn in sixth grade!" she laughed and looked back up to him. She knew there was no point in arguing with Stefan anyways; he was _always _right about everything. "I got that question wrong, didn't I?"

He grinned. "Yup."

Elena rolled her eyes. Stefan Salvatore was a genius and everyone knew it; she was the only person who ever actually bothered to debate with him, which was probably the reason that she'd been his best friend since fifth grade. She gave up far too easily half the time, but he didn't care. He liked her spunk. She seemed to be the only girl in Mystic High who actually understood him and his terrible sense of humor.

"I just hope that I get an A," he said as they made their way through the hall. "If my GPA drops…"

Elena looked up at him, giving him a nudge on the shoulder. "Loosen up. We all know you're going Ivy League. Stop worrying." The creases on his forehead gradually smoothed out under her sharp stare, his green eyes softening. She couldn't stifle the chuckle that escaped her lips; he got so serious over the simplest things. "I'm pretty sure I got a C on that. I just don't get symbols. How on earth can a dog represent prejudice?"

They made their way outside to the picnic tables. They could see the familiar faces of Tyler, Caroline, Bonnie, and Matt in the distance. "I can tutor you, if you want," Stefan offered after a short while.

She smiled softly. "Tonight?"

Stefan's green eyes locked with hers, a playful glint in his shining pools of hazel. "I thought that I was coming to your house anyways to watch that Scream marathon. Now we have to _study?_" Jokingly, he let out an aggravated groan, causing Elena to hit him on the shoulder.

"Remind me again why we even have to watch those stupid movies if we've already seen them more than twice."

"Because," Stefan started. "Watching you hold up a pillow to your face whenever the killer's wandering around is priceless."

Elena scoffed and hit him again. Finally, they reached their friends at the picnic table. Caroline and Bonnie glanced up at them both with a giggle. "Seriously," Caroline said. "Is there ever a time when you two aren't together?"

They both smiled and sheepishly looked away.

…

It was pitch black in the house, except for the blue light coming off of the TV, reflecting on Stefan and Elena. They had started off with two large blankets, but she had somehow ended up with both. The first blanket was cocooned around her while the second had fallen to the floor. Elena, who was too caught up in the movie to grab it, buried her face behind Stefan's shoulder to avoid watching the gore. He, on the other hand, was watching without even flinching. She wished she could be as poised as he was.

Luckily, a commercial came and Elena let out a breath of relief. "I have no idea why I even watch these with you," she sighed. Stefan looked at her with an arched brow. "Okay, I love watching them. But I hate it at the same time."

He smiled. "It's tradition. We've been doing this since, when?"

Elena let her head fall back, loud laughter coming from her as she remembered it. "Since we met! We were ten, and we weren't allowed to watch R rated movies…"

Stefan's eyes shone with happiness at the memory. "…So I figured out how to download them all to my gameboy," he chuckled.

"The technology nerd that you are," she joked. "And then we snuck up into your tree house and watched every single one."

"Yes!" Stefan exclaimed with a wide grin. "My first all-nighter."

"Oh god," Elena barely got out through her fit of giggles. She knew that the situation wouldn't have been funny to anyone who heard them, but the image of them as two little kids, huddled up in his tree house around this little gameboy to see what the hype of Scream was about… it was enough to make her crack up.

Stefan calmed himself down and realized she was still laughing, a sound that was enough to get him chuckling once again. God, her laugh was so beautiful and so contagious… Elena smiling was the most gorgeous thing he'd ever seen. It was an understatement to say that Stefan had a crush on her… after spending so much time with her, he'd fallen in love.

Stefan and Elena told each other everything, but that was the one thing he kept from her.

It was safe to say that he pretty much knew everything, but the one thing that he was not aware of was the fact that Elena Gilbert was keeping the same secret from him.

So, here they sat, two shy best friends enjoying each other's company but longing for more. Stefan sighed at the thought, when his attention suddenly turned to the television. A fancy commercial came onto the screen, a man's voice narrating it:

"Are you a perfect couple? Are you madly in love? Do you really think that your relationship can conquer everything that we'll throw at you? Put it to the test… by auditioning for the newest reality show, 'Perfect Match' coming to you on ABC. Directors will be coming to a location near you soon. Call the number below on this screen… You may just be the winning couple who gets a grand prize of 100,000 dollars!"

Elena had also been watching in awe, her mind spinning. "100 grand is a lot of money," she muttered.

Stefan nodded slowly. "I could do a lot with that."

They refused to look at each other, staring at the television. "It's too bad, though," she started awkwardly, "That I don't have a boyfriend to audition with…"

Stefan sighed. "Shame."

Just then, they both jumped at an idea, turning their heads, eyes meeting at the exact same moment. "Unless…" Elena began.

A grin curled on Stefan's lips. "Unless we pretend to be a couple. I mean, we've been friends for years… We'd probably be able to pull it off."

Her brown eyes widened. "Absolutely… I mean we know everything there is to know about each other. And we could split the hundred grand." There was a long pause before Elena said, "Well, what are you waiting for? Call the number!"

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: This is just a cute, fun fic that I'm writing, so don't take it too seriously. This is AU (alternate Universe). Stefan and Elena are both humans and in high school here. What do you think of it! Please review with your thoughts.<strong>_

_** Should I keep going? Thanks!  
>Xoxo,<strong>_

_**Sara**_


	2. Chapter 2

"Put your arm around me," Elena whispered once they started walking through the parking lot. Stefan, who had been feeling nervous all day, jumped when she spoke.

"What?" he asked.

"They're watching from the window," Elena laughed as she put her arms around his waist instead. She couldn't help but feel distracted by the way his lean muscles under that thin white shirt he was wearing rippled beneath her touch. Of course she'd seen him shirtless before -and that itself was quite a sight-, but she'd never realized just how... built he was.

He finally reciprocated by holding her against him. He noticed her pensive expression and arched a brow. "What?"

She giggled. "When do you make time to go to the gym?"

Stefan shook his head. "I'm on the football team, remember? I'm not a total loser, you know." He playfully nudged her with the shoulder that was closest to her. "Are you feeling me up, Elena?"

Her jaw dropped. "What!" she gasped. She laughed, rolling her eyes. "Someone's cocky."

Stefan simply shook his head again, that gentle grin that clearly said he had some sort of smart remark in mind present on his lips. Instead, he just said, "It's gonna be hard making them think that we're madly in love."

Elena sighed and cuddled closer to him. Might as well put on a show for the people watching. "We can pull it off. Just pretend I'm... I don't know, Megan Fox."

At that, Stefan burst out with laughter. "Seriously?"

Elena shrugged, grinning. "I don't know! You didn't seem to be complaining when we saw transformers."

Stefan eyed her for a moment playfully. "Then you can pretend I'm... Robert Pattinson. You seemed to have a huge smile on your face when you dragged me into Breaking Dawn!" he teased with a smile.

Elena gasped in faux embarrassment and lightly hit him on the chest, closing her eyes for a second, enjoying this playful moment between them. "How couldn't I? How many girls came up to you at the popcorn counter and called you Edward? Like six!" Stefan simply sighed, throwing his hands up into the air in mock frustration. She had won this round. A triumphant grin formed on Elena's lips when she realized she was the champion at this argument, so she glanced back at the window and leaned up on her tip toes, her cheek against Stefan's. Her lips were close to his ear as she whispered, "Don't worry. You're hotter than Edward."

She could have sworn that she felt him shudder in response to her breath against his cheek and her low words in his ear. He stood rigid for a second, his hand staying on the small of her back. She vaguely wondered if he was trying to come up with a comeback of some sort, but all he did was hold her there... and she didn't mind.

She didn't mind at all.

Maybe he was just trying to make it believable for the producers watching, she reasoned in the back of her mind. It was definitely working, that was for sure.

Elena exhaled shakily and pressed herself a little closer to him. The second she did this, she heard a sound come from deep in his throat. Was he holding back a quiet moan? The tiny sound was enough to send shockwaves through her body, and unfortunately, bring her back to reality.

This was awkward. He was her best friend.

Elena was going to lighten the mood by saying something about how anything was hotter than Edward so he shouldn't have taken it seriously, but she forgot about the comeback. So, uncomfortably, she stepped away and avoided Stefan's eyes.

"Uh, let's go in," he suggested. Elena nodded slowly.

Their audition for the show went smoothly. They were put in a room with a few producers and two other couples who were nervously holding each other close. Stefan and Elena simply held hands. The producers seemed to be watching them very closely; they'd obviously seen the little "show" Stefan and Elena had unintentionally put on in the parking lot.

The producers asked him difficult questions about Elena: what her favorite color was, her least favorite subject in school, her insecurities. She figured he'd have trouble with them, but he responded with ease. Violet, Physics, and the fact that she had a scar on her stomach from the time her appendix had to be taken out at age six.

They smiled and asked Elena the same question. She grinned up at her best friend, giving his hand a squeeze. "He likes dark blue. It's all that he wears most of the time," she started. Stefan chuckled in response; she was right. "He doesn't really have a least favorite subject... he's a genius and it all comes so easily to him. But he hated Physics too. I once asked him to tutor me and he said we'd fail together instead. We didn't, of course... I got a B, and he got a B+ and that was good enough." Elena smiled up at him, not even realizing that she'd been gazing. "His biggest insecurity... is that he feels like he can never be good enough. But he is. He's perfect."

She honestly didn't know if the last sentence was her babbling, or just something she added for romantic effect. Either way, Stefan got the hint and kissed the back of her hand. Dramatically, she giggled and leaned against him.

This was supposed to feel weird, but it didn't. In a crazy way, it felt right to her, being close to him, feeling his body warm against hers. Did he feel the same?

She didn't know, but they obviously did something right, because they were the very first couple to get cast.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Like I said, just a fun, lighthearted story, so don't take it too seriously :) I hope you're enjoying this so far! I just love the thought of Stefan and Elena being best friends, LOL! Let me know what you're thinking of this! Every review inspires me SO much! Let me know if I should continue.<strong>_  
><em><strong>Thanks! Xoxo :)<strong>_


	3. Chapter 3

"So, you and Elena?" Damon asked, his lips upturned in a slight smirk as he watched his brother. "When did that happen?"

Stefan shrugged, staring down at the full glass of scotch in his hands. He was going for a glass of water, but of course his brother had poured the booze in before he could do anything. "I don't know... It just happened," he lied.

Damon laughed, snatching Stefan's glass to take a long drink; his was already empty. "Did you two make out at a party or something?" he questioned. "Because trust me, girls act so much cooler at parties."

Stefan chuckled and shook his head. "No. No parties."

Damon smirked again. "Right, I forgot. You spend your Saturdays reading twilight," he acknowledged coyly. Stefan chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"So," Damon started. "Let me get this straight. You're going on a reality show with her the second you guys start dating? Hmmm..."

Stefan averted his gaze. Damon smirked for the billionth time, his pale blue eyes lighting up in realization. "You guys are faking it for the money, aren't you?" He laughed, and Stefan's lack of response was enough of an answer. "Dang, Stef. And here I thought you finally made your move on her."

He bit his lip. "What do you mean?"

Damon crossed his arms over his chest. "C'mon, baby bro. Could it be any more obvious that you've got the hots for her?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Stefan sighed, glancing at the window. "Okay, the limo's here to take us to the airport. I'll see you soon. Call me if I get the letter from Stanford." Quickly, he grabbed his suitcase.

"Got it," Damon grinned. "Now go get your girl." He nudged him and grinned. Stefan smiled back. "And seriously? A limo? What's wrong with a taxi?"

Stefan laughed, raising his eyebrows. "Guess they want us to feel at home. I'll see you later, Damon."

Within a few minutes, Stefan was inside of the limousine. The interior was incredible; the top was almost a mirror, with retro lights that looked similar to stars accenting it. In the center on the side was a large cooler, filled with everything from water, to soda, to champagne. The seats were leather and white, matching the exterior of the vehicle.

Sitting in the center, politely talking with a man and woman he didn't recognize, was Elena. As soon as her eyes fell upon him, her gaze lit up. His heart skipped a beat. She was really good at pretending to be in love with him.

Her hair was down and flowing in gentle waves, the beautiful way it was when she simply let it dry. She wore many different styles, straightening being her usual, but it was always his favorite when she let it dry naturally. Of course he never told her this. "Hey," he breathed.

Elena grinned softly. "Hi." She politely gestured to the woman. "Stefan, this is Alyssa. She's one of the show's producers. And this is Eric, the director." Her expression changed for just a brief second in warning, so foolishly, Stefan moved close to Elena and shook their hands.

"Hi, Alyssa," he greeted. "Pleasure, Eric."

"Hello," they both replied with smiles. Her face was average but her lips were plump from obvious injections, and he looked to be in his late twenties, with dyed brown hair.

Stefan wrapped his arm around Elena's waist for show and she instantly rested her head on his shoulder. "You look beautiful," he whispered loud enough for Alyssa and Eric to hear. After all, it definitely wasn't a lie. Elena responded warmly, wrapping her arms around his waist so that she could hoist herself up into his lap.

He swallowed thickly at his best friend's bold action, trying to ignore the fact that it felt so incredible to be this close to her, but he had to constantly remind himself that none of this was real, that this was for college money. But, damn, was it hard to differentiate reality from fantasy, especially when she was leaning close to him with that heavy look in her beautiful, brown eyes. Then, her cheek was pressed against his, and he could smell the intoxicating scent of her vanilla shampoo wafting through the air. He closed his eyes for just a moment. Could they just stay like this forever?

"There's a camera by the window," she whispered quietly into the portal of his ear, snapping him back into reality. He nodded in understanding -and slight disappointment-. Had he expected her to say something else?

"Sorry to intrude on the moment," Alyssa said after a pause. She was now holding a piece of paper and a pen. "But for the sake of the show's introduction, how long have you two been together."

"Eight!" Stefan immediately said, his answer overlapping Elena's, "Six!"

They exchanged worried glances for a second, but Elena giggled and nudged him. He played along and forced out a laugh. "Eight months and six days."

Alyssa and Eric looked at them with inquisitive stares, making Stefan feel nervous. Everything about this whole experience made him nervous, and he knew that Elena was aware if it. He calmed down when he felt her hand warm in his, giving a comforting squeeze. "We like to keep track of every single day," he explained as Elena leaned against him. "She writes them in the calendar I keep in my locker."

She giggled fakely in agreement.

"So," Eric continued. "How old are both of you?"

"Eighteen," Elena and Stefan answered at the same time. Alyssa smiled warmly at their joined response.

"You guys have great chemistry," she complimented. "I think our viewers are going to like you. We already have a very promising audience."

Elena looked at Stefan with an arched brow, amused. "So how is this going to work?"

"Pretty straight forward," Eric answered simply. "Most of the drama will be happening in the house itself. Not only do we bring in couples, but a few singles as well to get between them. There will be challenges every week too, and the winning pair will get a date in a select location. Some of your time will be spent away from challenges though, because we have to wait a few days once the episode has aired to get viewers' votes for elimination."

Elena furrowed her brows. "Oh? So the viewers vote."

Eric was the one to respond. "Yes." There was a short pause. His gray eyes curiously scanned over the couple across from him, turning to Alyssa with a questioning look. She smiled slightly in response to his expression and glanced at the tiny camera by the window.

"Um," Alyssa began, catching Elena and Stefan's attention. "Would you two mind kissing? Just for a second or two. It was something we should have asked at auditions, but we need footage for your introduction." She nodded to the camera as if they didn't know it was there in the first place.

Stefan's eyes widened in panic. He could feel Elena's body go still also. A strange feeling rushed through him in that split second: hope mixed with disappointment. Did he want to kiss her? Absolutely. But did he really want his very first kiss with Elena, a girl he hadn't even confessed his feelings to yet, to be in front of two complete strangers for a camera? Absolutely not.

He looked at her worriedly and very slowly, she turned around. Brown eyes shining with nervousness and anxiety, her gaze locked with his in a wordless exchange. Should they do this? Stefan meekly nodded, not wanting to blow their cover by saying no. Elena turned her head just a bit to glance at Eric and Alyssa, who were curiously watching them now. She lightly bit her pink lips and sighed, though he was just frozen to the spot. He didn't want to miss a second of Elena's reaction to this. Was she thinking the same thing that he was?

No. He brushed his hopelessly hopeful thoughts away. He knew she only viewed him as a friend; that was all that made sense for them.

Since Stefan seemed to have forgotten how to move, Elena was the one to cup his face and lean in. He was startled by the feel of her hands against his face but hid it, closing his eyes and finally remembering to lean forward too. The first thing to touch his overheated skin was her forehead. His heart skipped a beat in his chest. Then, the tip of her nose brushed agains his. Oh god, this was really happening...

He pressed his lips to hers.

Her lips felt so soft against his, like golden silk mixed with velvet. And it was simple as that, all questions answered. Stefan Salvatore was long gone.

He was helplessly in love with his best friend.

Biting back his every instinct to rope his fingers through her beautiful hair and kiss her until the world around them faded to nothing, he simply kept the contact light and gentle, pulling away. He wouldn't give her everything he had until he knew for a fact that she wanted it. He just wished that someday, that moment would come.

The kiss itself only lasted a second, but its affects remained. It was barely a peck, but his lips tingled and his heart pounded against his chest. Suddenly afraid to meet Elena's eyes, he looked down.

Stefan wasn't aware of the fact that Elena was staring at him with a look mixed with wonder, awe, and fear too.

* * *

><p>It wasn't long before they were on the plane. Alyssa and Eric were a few rows ahead of them and for that, Elena was thankful. She watched with a frown as Stefan put their luggage in the overhead compartments; he hadn't looked at her once since the incident in the limo. Who could blame him? She was a little shocked too. Neither of them had expected their simple ride to the airport to end like that.<p>

The slight numbness in her lips was the main indication that the kiss had lasting affects. She felt out of it, and a little angered at the stupid television show they had signed themselves up for. That was not how their first kiss was supposed to happen.

_But then again_, she reasoned._ Not like it would have ever happened any other way._

The second he sat next to her, she opened her mouth. "Freaked out?" she questioned.

He sighed, forcing a smile. Elena didn't like that at all. Stefan didn't do forced smiles, not with her. "Just surprised," he said awkwardly.

She crossed her arms over her chest, watching him intently. His hair was perfect as usual, aside from the one strand falling onto his forehead, but she figured she kind of liked the look on him. His expressive hazel eyes were wider than usual, and she knew exactly what he was thinking, like always: What did I just get myself into? "Okay," she said sternly, dramatically grabbing his face to maintain eye contact. "That was awkward."

Not really, they both thought at the same time.

But still, since he thought that's what Elena thought, he nodded. "Yes."

They both chuckled at the same time, the simple act seeming to break down the strange, unfamiliar tension between them. After a few seconds, Elena dropped her hands from his face and leaned against the seat. "Tell me what's bugging you."

"I don't know," Stefan sighed, the wall he had built up already crashing down at her mercy. "I just don't want this whole reality show thing to mess with our friendship."

She shrugged and grinned at him. "It won't. A kiss is just what you make it. Remember in sixth grade when we played spin the bottle and it landed on you and Matt?" She hardly even got out the very last line because she was giggling like crazy at the memory. She could still vividly remember the shocked looks on little Matt and Stefan's faces as they realized who the empty coke bottle landed on.

Stefan laughed and rolled his eyes, using his shoulder to push her. "That's a terrible example," he huffed with a smile and a shake of the head. "I ended up kissing Vicky instead."

"Exactly!" Elena said a little too loudly, making a few people turn back and glare. Stefan chuckled. "But when you kissed her you were still so in shock that it didn't even matter. See? A kiss is only what you make of it!"

He rested his head against the seat, just watching her, enjoying the grin that formed on her face from the simple memory. "Alright, I get your point," he smiled. "A kiss is just what you make it."

Elena beamed proudly but then suddenly got serious. "Okay... We have to make a pact.""Agreed," Stefan quipped pleasantly. "Allow me to do the honor..." Tilting his head up proudly and dramatically, he extended his pinky, just like they'd always done since they were ten. Giggling again from the playful expression on his face, she wound her pinky through his. With a voice full of mock authority, Stefan spoke. "Being on this show will not mess with our friendship. Whether we're the first to get kicked out or the last couple standing, we'll walk out of this the same way we walked into it."

Elena nodded in agreement. "Deal." Amused at how faithful they still were to the childish concept of a pinky swear, she released their fingers and sat back. All tension completely put to ease, she glanced over at her best friend with a soft grin. Already, his eyes were closed and his breathing was getting heavier, his chest rising and falling with relaxed breaths. The one thing that never changed about Stefan: he could fall asleep anywhere. His lips were slightly upturned in a small, sleepy smile, that one same lock of chestnut hair falling onto his forehead.

She wondered if he knew how perfect he was.

Her lips were _still_ tingling.

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: Ah, all of your reviews were so sweet and supportive so I wanted to post this next chapter as soon as I possibly could for you all! :) So, now that Stefan and Elena got their first kiss out of the way, will things get easier from here on out, or will more romantic tension begin to rise? Will they ever get to have their first "real" kiss? <em>**

**_I have a cute idea for either the next chapter or the one after it; I think you guys will really like it!_**

**_Next chapter, Stefan and Elena will meet their housemates and the reality show will really begin. And of course, I promise there will be more Stelena fluffiness! :P_**

**_Please comment! Every review inspires me more than you can imagine to post a new chapter as soon as I can! Tell me what you like, what you love, what you hate, and what you want to see!_**

**_Thanks! Xoxo :)_**


	4. Chapter 4

The plane ride was smooth. Stefan slept through most of it except for the fact that his head was on Elena's shoulder most of the time. Yes, she was extremely comfortable, he decided, but at one point she got up to go to the bathroom; the second she moved just an inch, he blinked and groaned.  
>He remembered hearing Elena telling him to go back to sleep, and he did, as soon as she returned. The next thing he knew they were being ushered off of the plane and back into a limo, where they discussed what to say and how to say it. The ride was short, and Stefan wordlessly watched Elena most the time, enjoying the way her mouth formed a little "o" as she looked in awe at the Californian palm trees outside.<p>

Now, they were walking into a large, modern house with beautiful, white leather couches in the sitting area. The downstairs itself was beautiful, not to mention the fact that about ten feet above the floor was a balcony from upstairs, its wired barrier spun in an intricate design of gray-blue flowers. Stefan's jaw dropped in amazement.

"I guess we're the first couple here," he acknowledged with a smile. Elena grinned widely, her hair gently flowing behind her when she swiftly turned her head to the back.

"Second," she laughed, gesturing to the couple already making out on one of the beach chairs by the pool. Stefan bit his lip as the reality of this situation really started to sink in.

"We're really going to have to make this believable." His words were full of anxiety, making Elena sigh and reach for his hand, the one action that seemed to be calming his nerves all day. Her soft fingers through his were the only solace that could relax his conscience and stress. Without even thinking about it, like it was the most natural thing in the world, he ever so lightly traced patterns into the back of her palm.

"I'm gonna go look for some people to introduce myself," Elena finally said. "Maybe you should go figure out the sleeping arrangements. I'll see you in a few. Okay?" Glancing back at the couple still passionately in their own world, she bit her lip and leaned up on her tip toes so that she could kiss him. He gasped a little bit when her lips met his for the second time that day, but once again it was quick and he was thankful for that. One more moment and it would have been nearly impossible to not put every last ounce of passion he had into their locked lips; it would be a dead giveaway of his feelings for her, and he did not want to see her reaction to that. Obviously, she'd be freaked out.

"'Kay," he mumbled.

* * *

><p>Elena wandered around the house, finding simple things like bathrooms and cabinets while couples began to pour in. To start off with, there were three other couples and three singles: two guys and a girl, who was running late.<p>

The first pair Elena ran into was Janie and Jem, a man and a woman both in their mid twenties. Janie had a shimmering engagement ring on her finger and her handshake was firm. "It's really nice to meet you. I love your earrings," Janie had complimented politely. She didn't seem very competitive, and Elena figured she might be friends with her eventually.  
>Then there was Mia and Peter, the couple that was kissing in the beach chairs. Both looking as if they were straight out of a magazine, they were only concentrated on each other. A stereotypical, blinded-by-love relationship, Elena figured bitterly.<p>

She also met a polite girl around her age named Eliza. She shook Elena's hand with a soft grip and said her boyfriend, Brad was already upstairs to find the best room.

The two single guys were very attractive, to say the least, Elena realized as she glanced over at them across the room. With light hair gelled up, they looked like Stefan wannabes, she thought with a giggle. Of course, they definitely weren't Stefan; no one could compare to the gorgeous man she considered to be her closest friend. Sure, maybe those guys looked pretty, but not in the unique, breathtaking way that Stefan did. Just the thought of him was enough to make her impatiently say goodbye to the new people downstairs just to see what he was up to.

Rushing up the stairs, Elena stopped when she heard the blond girl, Mia's loud but relaxed voice yell to everyone, "Fifteen minutes until we have to meet in the front yard!"

She nodded in understanding and ran up until she was in the long hallway. Looking around confusedly, there were multiple rooms labeled with different names written in perfect cursive. The hall itself was normal and reminded her of a hotel, so she figured the rooms would be the same. But she was most certainly wrong.

Finally, coming across the door labeled Stefan and Elena, she grinned and turned the nob with a gentle click.

The very first thing she saw upon opening the door was a hot tub. Right in the middle of the room! Her jaw dropped in excitement as the bubbles rushed to the blue surface, the tub illuminated by changing lights from the very bottom. Their suite had its own living room! She squealed excitedly, dropping her purse on the white leather couch as she ran into the bedroom like a little kid on Christmas.

Her jaw practically unhinged at the beauty of the room. With the ceiling at a triangular slant to match the roof, it was shaped perfectly, the wooden top practically a huge, romantic umbrella. The window was massive, covering almost the entire left wall with a gorgeous view of downtown Los Angeles. Elena smiled and fell back onto the soft bed. She tried to contain her childish giggle at the beautiful place she could now call home, but simply couldn't.

Then, with a shock, she realized that the bed already smelled like Stefan. With its heady, masculine scent of cologne and summertime already absorbed into the blankets, Elena knew she would be sleeping well that night.

After just lying there for a moment, she finally yelled through the grand suite, "Stefan!"

There was a short pause before she heard his muffled response: "Shower, Lena!"

Her thoughts were brought back into reality at his words; damn, she only had ten minutes before there would be cameras watching her every move, zooming in on her face and making her every slight imperfection even more noticeable. She definitely needed a shower too.

Taking her shoes off and rushing into the bathroom, she rested against the doorframe. "Please tell me you're almost done!" she begged anxiously.

The sound of water falling was very loud, and it was almost impossible to even see the shower curtain through all of the steam. Aggravated, Elena crossed her arms over her chest. "I just got in. Why?" he yelled over the sound.

"Seriously? We have to be down in ten minutes, Stefan. I need to shower too."

She could hear the shower curtain slide to the side a bit so he could stick his head out, though it was nearly useless. The steam was thick anyways. "Just jump in the hot tub," he teased.

Elena laughed, dropping her jaw in mock anger though she couldn't hide her amusement. "Or I could kick you out and put you in the hot tub," she joked right back at him. There was a long pause while Stefan pushed the curtain back into place and continued to let the water run down his perfectly sculpted abs...

She realized she was fantasizing and mentally slapped herself. "Well...?" she started.

"Just jump in," he suggested after a moment. Elena's eyes widened even more than they should have, her heart picking up to an unnatural speed. Did he just say what she think he did...?

"What!" she practically gasped.

There was a long laugh from Stefan that made her chuckle also; she couldn't help it. Whenever Stefan laughed, she laughed. Whenever he smiled, she smiled. Whenever he cried, she cried; they were just linked that way. "I meant, put on your bathing suit and jump in."

Elena let out the breath she didn't even know she was holding. "Oh. Duh..." Biting her lip and turning back to go to the room so that she could rummage through her suit case, Elena glanced back at the shower nervously.

Within about a minute, Stefan could hear Elena's heavy footsteps in the bathroom again. He sighed to himself, rinsing shampoo out of his hair when her soft voice interrupted his brief relaxation. She warned him threw him a pair of swim trunks which he quickly put on with a laugh. Finally, Elena hopped in.

"Why are things always so complicated with us?" she giggled, the sound making Stefan grin widely. He made sure most of the soap was out of his hair, opened his eyes, and stepped back so that Elena could get under the water.

"Because we're..." he trailed off the second he got a good glimpse of her, completely forgetting what he was about to say. He was one hundred percent, for the first time in his life at a loss for words. There she stood, facing him, clad in only her little bikini, running her fingers through her hair as the water effortlessly flowed down her body like searing, liquid gold.

When Stefan stopped speaking, Elena curiously opened one eye. "Hmm?" she questioned.

He bit his bottom lip, so hard he wouldn't have been surprised if he drew blood. "I... I, uh..." Think! his mind screamed at him, along with every single cell in his body, but his lips could not form the words. "I... I forget."

Elena suspiciously arched a brow at him but ignored the statement. She slowly stepped back, now letting Stefan walk under the water. Her body brushed his for a second as she did so, he noticed with a shudder. For a short moment, she was pressed up against him. Exhaling shakily and trying to forget that this was his stupid idea in the first place, he closed his eyes and rinsed out the rest of the soap. "What do you think the first challenge will be?" he asked when he could finally form words again.

Elena, who was currently mesmerized by the way the water streamed over his rose tattoo, responded slowly. "I don't know. Hopefully horror movie trivia," she teased.

Stefan chuckled. "Doubt it, but..." He turned around so he was facing her again, taking a playful step closer. "We'd definitely win at that one."

Since Stefan laughed, so did she; she couldn't help it. Smirking, Elena suddenly leaned closer. She gripped the back of Stefan's neck tightly, the action accidentally bringing her impossibly close. She nearly missed the sound of Stefan's gasp the second they were pressed up against each other. "Hello Stefan," she whispered into his ear, imitating the killer's voice from Scream. "What's your favorite scary movie?"

He breathed out sharply. Was he supposed to respond? Of course, but once again she gave him that wobbly feeling that made him forget what words even were. Before he did anything he'd regret, Stefan stepped away from Elena. But as soon as he did, her eyes fell on his and it was clear she wasn't thinking about Scream either. With the forgotten hot water going cold and continuing to pour over them, Stefan absently took a step closer again, his eyes briefly going to her lips, perfect, soft lips that had often occupied his dreams. Perfect, soft lips he'd kissed without the passion he wanted so desperately to display.

But suddenly, those lips were moving. "We... we're running late," Elena managed to get out, clearly frazzled and shocked from the intensity of the moment. Quickly and wordlessly, they turned off the water and exited the bathroom. Stefan was shocked and nervous, afraid that Elena had seen him staring at her with that heavy look of desire and adoration.

But she hadn't.

She was too busy looking at _his_ lips.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Ah, all of your updates were so inspiring again! I definitely wanted to get this up for you all ASAP! I'm sorry- it's not my best work because I was rushed (which is why I prefer not to write on school nights) but I hope you enjoyed anyways! :D So, Stelena in the shower... LOL! Romantic tension is definitely rising for Stefan and Elena... What will happen when they truly have to make everyone believe they're crazy in love? You'll see next chapter! :)<strong>_

_**Please review! All of your comments inspire me more than words can explain! They all make my day! Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like and what you want to see! Review for the soonest update possible! Thanks! Xoxo!**_

_**-Sara**_


	5. Chapter 5

Stefan and Elena managed to quickly get dressed and rush downstairs. The second they got to the lawn, her eyes widened and she squealed. "Oh my god!"

Stefan, who was only paying attention to the large crowd of contestants, turned to face her, furrowing his brows. "What's wrong?" His green eyes flashed with alarm.

"The host!" she pretty much screamed, pushing Stefan away and running through the crowd to get to the man at the front. He simply stood there, not sure to be amused or insulted, and ended up laughing. "My god! You're Rob Kardashian!" he heard her say excitedly.

Rob Kardashian? Stefan had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Elena actually watched the Kardashians on TV? He couldn't stifle the small chuckle that escaped from his lips, just staring at his best friend as she idiotically reached to shake his hand.

Making his way through the crowd, Rob grinned and shook her hand. "It's a pleasure," he said awkwardly. The look in his eyes made it clear that he was ready to call security on this teenage girl who had clearly never been in the presence of a celebrity. Stefan laughed and grabbed Elena by the arm so that she was up against him, her back pressing up against his hard chest. "Could you flip out a little more?" he sarcastically whispered into her ear. Giggling in response to his words, Elena turned to face him."He's a freaking Kardashian!" she said under her breath, nodding back to Rob, who was talking to everyone. "Show him a little respect."

"Yes," Stefan leaned in close and joked. He made sure to keep his voice low so that only she could hear. "A Kardashian, not the Queen of England." At those words, Elena couldn't help but grab his t-shirt and giggle under her breath, a large smile forming on her pink lips. A guy beside them cleared his throat and glared. Elena recognized him as one of the single guys. "Would you two mind not turning this into a PDA session?" he snapped venomously. Stefan arched a brow and turned to look at Elena, realizing just how close they were standing. He gave a simple apology and turned back to Rob.

"Well, I'm sure you all have figured out I'm your host," he started with a grin. "I will be giving you weekly challenges and announcing challenge winners. I'll check in on couples too. Every day or so we like to have interviews so that we have footage for the show. Every challenge will get more difficult as the show progresses. Sometimes, they will involve couples working together, or one of our carefully selected singles with one of you." The other couples seemed to cringe at the idea of their partner being alone with another person, but Stefan and Elena didn't even realize they should have been concerned. "You have to realize that the goal of this show is not to keep you together. You will fight. But the couple who stays through it all will go home with the cash prize.

"For your first challenge," Rob explained. "We're just going to peak the interest of our single contestants a bit. See who they've got their eye on. Or should we say... their lips." He smirked, a devious, troublesome grin that made Elena's stomach twist."We have two guys who are single. They will each pick one different girl to kiss. Ladies, I'd like to introduce you to Todd... and Landon." Both guys emerged from the crowd at the same time. Landon, the grouchy guy who looked like a blonder, plainer version of Stefan forced a smile and stood next to Rob. Todd's grin was warmer; his eyes were brown and his hair was gelled about four inches above his head. They picked two girls, Mia and Eliza.

Rob smiled. "Now it's time to meet our single lady. There's only one of her, but trust me... she'll keep you entertained, guys. Ladies, you better hold your men tight. Welcome to Perfect Match, Katherine."

Stefan's posture stiffened at the name. As soon as she was called, five inch stilettos punctured the grass with every slow step she took. Tight, dark jeans hugged her legs and a red silk top left little to the imagination. Long, flowing molten curls spiraled down her shoulders, framing her sly face. Her dark, black holes of eyes met his and he froze.

Stefan and Elena knew her.

The woman standing in front of the crowd was his ex girlfriend and Stefan didn't know how on earth to react. Katherine Pierce had gone to Mystic High with Stefan and Elena. She started dating him when he was a sophomore; she was a senior at the time. They got serious fast, and even after Katherine graduated, they continued to date into his junior year. After first semester, she left town without a single goodbye, and it left Stefan heartbroken.

Elena swallowed thickly, her gaze landing on the smirking woman across from her. She had always despised Katherine from the moment she laid eyes on her in freshman year. Katherine was a girl who always got what she wanted, nothing less. And as soon as Stefan could turn sixteen and drive a car, she wanted him. Who could really blame her? Elena never admitted it, but part of her hated Katherine because she had once been in possession of the one thing Elena never would be able to get: her best friend's heart. Also, when she left town, she crushed Stefan, and that wasn't something Elena took lightly.

"Him," she said smoothly, pointing to Stefan with a manicured, slender finger. Elena's stomach dropped.

He didn't move. Elena vaguely wondered if Stefan had simply been awestruck by the provocative sight of his ex who never really broke up with him or if he just didn't know what to do. Huffing, she elbowed him in the ribcage and he jumped, reluctantly walking over to Katherine.

She smirked, a wide, catlike grin that made Elena feel nauseated. Katherine's hands wound around Stefan's neck as if he was her possession, and kissed him, her hands managing to move to both sides of his face. Elena couldn't see Stefan's face, but noticed that he was the one to pull away. She could only imagine the dazed, satisfied look on her best friend's face.

Elena's eyes locked with Katherine's after that moment. Katherine simply licked her lips and headed into the crowd without looking back.

* * *

><p>That night, he took a long shower.<p>

Stefan ran his hands through his hair and allowed the water to stream over his face, washing away any sign of Katherine having been there. His lips burned -they burned for god's sake!- with the taste of her own lips on them: whiskey mixed with cinnamon mixed with heartlessness. And to make things worse, Elena saw the kiss.

He was sure that if he was making any progress with Elena it was completely diminished from that stupid challenge.

His stomach twisted in fury. He hated Katherine, loathed her with his entire being; he never even mattered to her. She only gave him the time of day because he was innocent then and willing to fall in love without even knowing what love was. Looking back on it, they had the exact opposite of love. Half the time he couldn't tolerate her, but was too scared of losing her. And when she left town without even telling him, he soon learned it was the best thing that ever happened to him.

He never would have even considered dating Katherine if Elena hadn't been with Matt Donovan in the first place. But Katherine had the magic ability to distract him for a little while, keep his thoughts off of his best friend who surely didn't feel the same.

It was funny, though. Soon after Katherine left town, Elena broke up with Matt.

Stefan let out a heavy breath and turned the water off. Wrapping a white towel around his waist, he exited the bathroom and walked into the bedroom, dimly lit from the one lamp on the bedside. Elena was on her side, already in her pajamas, rubbing lotion from a bottle onto her legs. Her skin shone like silk in the lamplight, and it took her a moment to realize he was there. He smiled softly and thought to himself that she looked simply beautiful when she was deep in thought.

Finally, she turned to look at him, giving a small smile. "You okay?"

Stefan exhaled deeply. "I hated that challenge."

He watched as Elena turned her back to him again and continued to pump lotion into her hands. "I thought you would have liked it," she commented simply, emotionlessly. "I mean, after all, she was your first love."

"No she wasn't," he replied instantly. In response to that, Elena curiously tilted her head around without revealing her facial expression. He winced when he realized what he said, wondering if she knew that he was talking about her. "I went out with Katherine because I knew I'd never be able to be with the person I wanted."

Finally, Elena turned her head. "Huh," she said curiously, her chocolate brown eyes full of shock. "I did that with Matt. I mean I thought I could love him but..."

Stefan smiled sadly. "It's not that easy."

Elena looked at him, that twinkle in his eyes reminding him once again why they were best friends. It was crazy how they could always relate to each other without even knowing it. "No. It's not that easy," she repeated.

He laughed, a low, amused chuckle that made her giggle too. "Well then," he started as he plopped down on the bed despite his soaking hair and damp towel. "High five for a pathetic love life!"

Elena giggled and shook her head, rolling her eyes. She rolled over and whispered right into his ear, "Hey, at least I have a perfect imaginary love life!"

He smiled widely at that. "Amen!" Elena grinned at him and rolled onto his back, looking into the triangular ceiling, the room falling into a comfortable silence.

"But," Elena said quietly after a long break. "If you really do want Katherine, don't let this show get in the way. I mean if you really love her..."

"I don't."

She bit her lip to hide the smug smile from his quick, positive response. "You know, I think we did a pretty good job today. That Landon guy seemed disgusted with us." She watched as Stefan closed his eyes, his lips turned up. She took the moment to her advantage and quickly raked her eyes over his perfect torso.

"I wonder if they got any of that shower on camera," he commented, keeping his voice low. "I bet that'd be interesting television..."

Elena glanced up at him from the corner of her eye. "You were acting weird though."  
>He opened one eye to glance down at her. "So were you."<p>

Elena looked at him strangely. "It was kind of intense."

Stefan then opened both of his eyes, turning on his side so that his bright green-blue eyes burned into hers. "I thought so too. Maybe this show's getting to us a little bit."

She shrugged, sighing. "Maybe."

He swallowed thickly. "Is... is that a bad thing?"

Elena didn't dare blink under the intensity of Stefan's stare, wondering if he could hear her heart pick up speed. "Maybe," she barely got out.

He turned back on his back and she did the same. "Yeah," Stefan repeated. "Maybe."

Once again, there was a long pause as they both just looked up at the ceiling, in their own worlds, surrounded by their own personal thoughts. After about a minute, Stefan and Elena hesitantly turned at the same time.

"Elena..."

"Stefan..."

Their eyes briefly met and they didn't even know how it happened, but within less than a second, they were kissing.

This was unlike anything either of them had done before for the cameras. This was much different, fused with raw passion and desperation and frustration. They didn't know what had come over either of them but it didn't really matter at the moment.

Elena sat up, bringing him with her, his fingers tangling in her dark, coffee hair. And she could feel it in his kiss: all of the pent up passion he'd been holding back, completely coming undone and flooding to her, feeding her soul. She eagerly returned that passion, no longer following the nagging influence of her mind, but the pull her body had to him. It was a strange feeling, but a good one nevertheless, especially when her arms wrapped around his broad shoulders and they fell backwards. He was on top of her, hands sliding under her waist to pull her close. This wasn't a gesture of happiness or self revelation that they were sharing; no, it was a gesture of longing and desire.

Elena ran her hands along his smooth back, relishing the feel of his heated skin under her fingertips. Their kiss deepened, tongues battling and fighting for dominance. She never realized just how good of a kisser Stefan was until now, and she was loving every minute of it. Pushing at his chest, she turned the tables and rolled on top of him, running her hands along his perfectly toned biceps. He was so perfect...

Finally, they both had to pull away for a much needed breath, their hazy eyes meeting as they did so. Stefan could feel her sweet breath against his lips, and suddenly, as her shining brown orbs met his glimmering green, reality snapped back into place.

Breathless and in shock, Elena looked down at Stefan, who was still pinned beneath her. "What just happened?" she panted.

It took him a few seconds before he could even speak, his cheeks a bright red and his lips parted to take in much needed oxygen. "I don't know."

They just stared at each other for a long second before Elena remembered to roll off of him. "We're just... we're just getting into character," she reassured him, careful to make sure no cameras were in the room. "I mean, we'd never do that back home. It's just because we're doing what people in relationships do. They make out all the time, right? So... it's not weird or anything. It's just... You know what I mean."

Stefan laughed a little bit at Elena's babbling, though on the inside he was screaming. How stupid of him! He had come so close to ruining their friendship with a kiss from her he'd been dreaming about for years. "Of course. Like we said earlier, it's just the show getting to us. It has to be..."

Elena nodded, smiling softly, an attempt to ease the tension created between them. "You know what," he announced. "I'm going to sleep."

Stefan quickly turned on his side and switched the lamp off. Elena bit her lip and nodded, watching him intently. It only took a few minutes for his breathing to soften and his lips to part in that signature way that indicated he was already deep asleep. With a touch so light it couldn't wake him, Elena brushed Stefan's hair off of his forehead. "Goodnight, Stefan," she whispered.

She just gazed at him for a few more moments, briefly wondering what would have happened if she pulled away and told him what really had come to mind, that she'd been waiting for a kiss from him since fifth grade. But, of course she bit the words back.

Because she was sure that despite the passion in his kiss, there was no way that Stefan felt the same way.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Yay, finally an update! Sorry it took me so long :( I got writer's block again! Ugh! Plus over the weekend I was in my school's performance of Bye Bye Birdie and playing my character took SO much energy out of me, LOL! But everything's back to normal now, so as long as you want me to keep going, I'll update as soon as possible! <strong>_

_**Hope you liked this chapter. A few of you guessed Kat would be making trouble; you seemed to read my mind! haha! So now there's definitely some major tension between Stefan Elena... yet they're still in denial about the other's feelings. How long will it take for them to both realize just how head over heels they are for each other?**_

_**Please leave a review! You all know how much every comment means to me! Really, they are what keep me writing. So, leave a review for a quick update!**_

_**Thanks! Xoxo,**_

_**Sara**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**AN: Apologizing in advance for any typos. I wrote this around midnight. Anyways... ENJOY :)**_

* * *

><p>The next week went by smoothly. According to Rob, Perfect Match had gotten very high ratings upon airing its first episode. Eliza and Brad were the first to go, but they left with smiles on their faces; it was obvious the southern couple was far too quiet for reality television. Elena was sad to see Eliza go, but was extremely proud to know that her charade with Stefan was believable.<p>

A few days passed by and the cameras continued to roll. As it always did, the awkwardness of Stefan and Elena's kiss didn't last long, and soon they were back to normal.

That week, there was a challenge held, involving song writing and Stefan with a guitar. Elena swore that the lyrics her best friend came up with were the funniest things she had ever heard in her entire life, or maybe it was the way he delivered them. "Your eyes are so nice and brown, let's go dance through the town! I hate it when you wear hats, 'cause your hair is pretty when you wear it flat... Never mind, your hair's pretty all the time, I suck at singing, so maybe I should just become a mime. Hey Elena, you've forever left a stain uh... on my heart!" Surprisingly, they won the challenge and she didn't understand how, considering how terrible his song was.

Hey, at least she could say his guitar playing was decent.

* * *

><p>Now, Saturday morning quickly approached, the pink sun beginning to rise over the skyline replete with palm trees and modern buildings. Elena was the first to wake due to the strong sunlight hitting her face, but she didn't dare move. She was far too comfortable.<p>

Slowly opening her eyes, Elena snuggled up to her insanely comfortable pillow, only to realize it wasn't a pillow at all. It was Stefan's chest. Stefan's bare chest. He constantly complained about the hot weather and the lack of air conditioning, but she really didn't mind; it was definitely worth it, considering he never slept in a shirt.

She grinned warmly, snuggling a little closer to him. It felt nice to be with Stefan like this, felt right somehow. Beneath his smooth skin, she could distinctly hear his mellow heartbeat, pulsing rhythmically. Thump thump, thump, she heard repeatedly. His chest gently rose and fell with every shallow intake of breath, soft little snores escaping his lips on occasion. Elena had to resist the urge to giggle; if she woke him, surely this moment would be ruined.

Ever so gently, Elena brought her hand up to trace her fingertips along the rose tattoo lining his left bicep. The blue ink seemed to fade in and out at the most perfect spots; it was absolutely beautiful, just like Stefan.

Suddenly, he shifted a little bit beneath her, letting out a small whimper as his eyes drifted open. Immediately, they fell on her, a lazy smile instantly coming to his lips. "Mmmm... good morning," he mumbled.

Elena laughed, knowing he was still half asleep. "You look happy," she commented.

He scrunched his nose in a way that made Elena think he looked even more adorable sleepy than he did when he was serenading her. "I'm dreaming 'bout you," he drowsily replied before closing his eyes once again, his breathing going heavy. Elena couldn't stifle her laugh at the fact that Stefan had fallen asleep again so easily.

She let out a deep, happy breath. Was he really dreaming about her? Grinning idiotically, as if this relationship actually were as real to Stefan as it was to her, she slid out of the bed and went over to her bag of clothes to figure out what to wear that day. Upon digging through her stuff, Elena noticed her vibrating iPhone at the very bottom of her bag. She picked it up, only to see that she had 21 missed texts. Five from Bonnie, one from Tyler, two from Matt, and thirteen from Caroline.

The majority of them were asking what was going on and why she was with Stefan. Caroline, who had religiously been watching the show and knew the truth behind Elena and Stefan's charade, seemed to send a text at every little thing.

_You and Stefan showered together? OMG details please! :-D_

_Way to fangirl over Rob Kardashian. He didn't even win Dancing with the Stars..._

_OMFG! YOU AND STEFAN WERE MAKING OUT!_

_Did u like it? I swear to god, I bet u did._

There were tons of texts like this, and Elena had to hold back her laughter, careful not to wake Stefan. She skipped over a few of Caroline's texts, until she came across one that made her heart drop.

_Going to prom 2nite with Tyler. When u get home, im screaming at u 4 not being here. Bon & I missed u dress shopping!_

Elena frowned deeply at this, her entire mood dropping. How could she miss her senior prom night? It had been something that she was looking forward to since first grade. Caroline put the date in her calendar by the time they were in seventh grade, and her, Bonnie, and Caroline constantly fantasized about who they would bring and who they would kiss.

She let out a discontent breath and went into the bathroom to shower. After about a half hour, she exited, wrapped in a towel. Expectant to see Stefan still sleeping in their big bed, she was disappointed when he wasn't there. Instead, in his place, was a note.

Smiling a bit, Elena lifted the letter and read Stefan's elegant handwriting:  
><em>Meet me at seven tonight?<em>

Confused by his note, she furrowed her brows but laughed. Why would Stefan want to see her, and where? Nevertheless, she got ready and wore something nice. All day long, there was no sign of Stefan anywhere. At 6:50, she was downstairs in the sitting room when she heard the clicking of heels down the hall.

Katherine was quickly approaching. With that ever present smirk on her face, she made her way over to Elena, sly steps fueled with catty determination. "Hello, Elena," she said with mock sweetness.

Elena gritted her teeth and glared. "Katherine."

She bit her lip. "Mmmhm. So I suppose you and Stefan are on pretty good terms now, considering that you're here. He loves you a lot, doesn't he?"

Elena swallowed. "Of course he does," she lied. Katherine chuckled.

"Well let's get something straight, Elena Gilbert. I want him. And I intend to get what I want. I know Stefan better than you ever will... I know exactly how to get him going, make him tick." She grinned wickedly as if remembering some past memory that Elena definitely didn't want to hear about. "So if you think for even a second that by the end of this, you'll still be together, I'd reconsider."

Upon hearing Katherine's words, Elena glared coldly and took a step closer. "Let's get something straight, Katherine," she spat. "Stefan hates you. You left him in the dust without even looking back, and if you think for even a second that he's weak enough to go running back to you after you moved on without him, you're an idiot. He loves me, because what we have is real. It's not just something physical. It's pure, and it's beautiful. Sometimes it's tragic," she admitted, now speaking the truth without even meaning to. "but I love him. I've always loved him and I always will."

Katherine didn't respond, but simply glared right back.

"Well," Elena announced after a long moment. "If you don't mind, I have somewhere to go. Have a nice night, _honey_."

With that, she strutted outside into the front lawn and stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth falling to the floor. Standing in front of a white limo, wearing a black tuxedo with his hair slicked back, was Stefan. He looked, in any sane way to put it, stunning.

When she could walk, Elena approached him quickly. "Stefan!" she exclaimed, "What is this?"

In response, he simply smiled at her, that dazzling, gentle smile of his and opened the door to the limousine. "We won a challenge, didn't we? Doesn't that mean we get a date?" His green eyes glimmering with what could only be explained as admiration, he nodded for Elena to enter the limo. She obliged eagerly. Damn, he was good at pretending to love her. He was currently staring at her as if she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on.

"Where are we going?" she finally asked.

"You'll see."

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: To be continued...<em>**

**_LOL! I hope you liked this chapter! I know it's short but I wanted to update ASAP for you all and I'm exhausted- haha_****_! Thank you for your inspiring comments! They definitely helped me out of my writer's block! This chapter was basically all fluff and next chapter you'll DEFINITELY see some Stelena cuteness and epicness that I have planned :) _**

**_Where do you think their date is going to be?_**

**_Please review! You all know how much they mean to me. Comment for a quick update to see Stefan and Elena's "date!" :)_**

**_Thanks! Xoxo,_**

**_Sara_**

**_PS: If you have any challenge ideas, please let me know what you want them to be! I'm terrible at coming up with challenges LOL :P  
><em>**


	7. Chapter 7

_**AN: Thanks to everyone who sent me challenge ideas! I'll definitely be using some of them, and I'll give you a shoutout if I use your suggested challenge. It's kind of funny; I was watching some Bachelor Pad clips you guys sent me and I realized how similar it is to my fic, and I've never even watched it, haha!**_

_**Btw, here's a few questions everyone is asking me about small details, so I hope this clears things up :)**_

_**-How did they film Stefan and Elena in the shower? **_

_**A: They didn't actually film them in the shower. The only thing caught on camera was Elena walking into the bathroom where Stefan was showering and then them exiting the bathroom together.**_

_**-How have the producers not found out about Stefan and Elena's fake relationship?**_

_**A: It is revealed in previous chapters that while in the house they only speak in whispers, because they're paranoid about hidden cameras. So, they're careful :D**_

_**-Who knows the truth about Stefan and Elena's fake relationship?**_

_**A: Only Bonnie, Caroline and Damon. Matt and Tyler are just confused and clueless :P**_

_**Anyways, without further ado, here's the next chapter :)**_

* * *

><p>"Will you ever tell me where we're going?" Elena asked during the ride in the limousine. Stefan smiled, a bright, contagious smile that made her heart skip a beat.<p>

"We're almost there," he promised calmly though he couldn't hide his excitement.

Elena dramatically frowned, hunching back into her seat. "Where are the cameras?" she questioned. Glancing up at him, she recognized that Stefan's smile grew even wider. "They're not here, are they?"

Stefan laughed. "Nope," was all that he said in response. Elena's body flooded with relief; they hadn't been truly alone for over a week! Joyously, she moved closer to him and hugged him tightly.

"Oh my god! It's a miracle!" she said happily. "How'd you manage to do that?"

Stefan grinned. "You wanted to have a nice, normal prom night, didn't you?" As he spoke, the limousine came to a stop, but Elena resisted the urge to look out the window. She simply arched a brow at him, puzzled to where this was going. He continued. "I couldn't really talk the producers into sending us back to Mystic Falls for the night, and there was no way the whole senior class would be able to fly across the country, so I got the next best thing. Elena Gilbert, would you like to go to prom with me?"

Elena giggled at his dramatic words when he extended his arm. "Always the gentleman, Mr. Salvatore," she fake swooned, placing her hand on the inside of his elbow. Stefan chuckled at her words and shrugged. "I thought you'd never ask!" she joked.

The limo driver came around and opened the door for them. His eyes fell on Elena and he smiled kindly. "You've got quite the boyfriend. He's been over here working at this all day," he whispered, pretending that it was a secret but Stefan shyly looked away. She could have sworn she saw the faintest sign of a blush on his cheeks.

"Thank you, Alfred," Stefan said politely.

"You two kids have a nice prom."

Elena kindly nodded and followed Stefan down the path through the woods. Wordlessly, she gazed up at him, with his slicked hair, and decided she liked this look on him. He was so handsome that he made her stomach flutter; she felt so fortunate just to say that she knew him. Everything about Stefan was the epitome of perfection: he was uniquely beautiful, selfless, and an incredible friend above all. She just wished he could understand that.

After a few seconds, they arrived in a clearing, lined by palm trees. Twinkling, purple lights surrounded the clearing, along with light blue lanterns that illuminated the starry night. On the far side was a stage. A band stood on it, lightly playing music that seemed to compliment the subtle yet beautiful decorations. Above the stage, written out in neon lights, were the words "Welcome to Mystic Falls Class of 2012 Senior Prom!"

Elena's jaw dropped in awe. "You set all of this up for me?"

Stefan took in every little detail of her reaction, wanting to commit it to memory for the rest of his life. He loved making Elena happy; it was one of the small pleasures of life that brought him more joy than anything else could. "There's more," he said softly, nodding to the small group of people now approaching them.

Elena's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Oh my god!" she screamed, running over to them. "Caroline! Bonnie! Matt! Tyler! Ahhhhh!" Laughing and shouting, she grabbed them all and pulled them into a huge hug. "Wait a minute. What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, Stefan called us this morning," Matt explained. "We got on a plane and rushed over."

She frowned. "You should be at the prom!"

"We are at the prom," Bonnie smiled. "What better way to spend it than in warm weather with our two best friends who we've all insanely missed?"

Stefan approached the crowd slowly, chuckling. "It's only been about two weeks."

"STEFAN!" Bonnie and Caroline both shrieked his name and practically tackled him with a huge hug. He stumbled back dramatically as they did this, and the music started to play a little louder. The singer grabbed the mic and began to softly hum the words to some slow song.

"Well," Tyler said. "Are we all dancing or what?"

Bonnie and Caroline did a once over of Elena. "She's not dancing at her prom in a sundress," Caroline announced sternly.

Elena laughed. "Well what am I supposed to wear then? Nothing?"

"Do you really think we came unprepared?" Caroline put her hands on her hips, shaking her head. Elena shrugged her shoulders and grinned as Bonnie took her by the hand and lead her down a path through the woods, until they were out of sight.

Caroline stood in the clearing, her eyes firmly on Stefan. "Hey Matt, Tyler... can you guys go make sure the stereo is turned up all the way?"

Matt laughed. "I'm pretty sure that's as loud as it gets, Care."

"No it's not," she argued. "Please go check!"

Tyler and Matt both sighed and left, leaving Stefan and Caroline in the clearing. She crossed her arms over her chest and just stared at him. "What's that look for?" he asked after a long, uncomfortable moment.

She rolled her eyes dramatically, unable to hide her smirk. "You know exactly what it's for."

Stefan averted his gaze and crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe I should go check on Matt and Tyler. Make sure the stereo's working..."

Caroline's smirk turned to a look of amusement. "Don't you change the subject, Stefan Salvatore!" Her blue eyes glimmered as she stared at him, as if they were trying to see right through him. Stefan swallowed thickly. "You're in love with Elena!"

His eyes went wide, and he quickly hid it with a look of amused shock. "What? No, of course not! Didn't Elena tell you the whole reality show thing was for college money...?"

She responded quickly, her blond hair whipping at her face as she swiftly turned her head to give him the death look. "I've seen the way you look at her. You kissed her, Stefan and it's so freaking obvious that you're constantly gazing at her with that intense look of yours. I mean, if you were really faking it, you'd totally have that 'hey it's Tuesday' look instead, cause no offense, but you suck at lying. It's believable because you actually love her, don't you?"

Stefan, momentarily caught up in her babbling, took a moment to respond. He definitely hadn't expected anyone to straight up ask him this question. "No!" he said instantly, but under the intensity of her stare, he broke. "You can't tell Elena, Caroline."

Caroline's glare turned to a wide grin. "Told you that you suck at lying." Her voice was teasing and Stefan couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, why don't you tell her?"

He sighed deeply. "It's not that easy. It could screw everything up."

She watched him curiously. "Maybe. But maybe not. It depends."

He furrowed his brows, asking, "What do you mean?"

Caroline smiled. "Do you want to spend of your life wondering what could have been? You can do it, Stefan. You don't even have to say it straight out, or at all. Just think about it. Maybe she's closer to loving you than you think."

* * *

><p>Elena exhaled deeply as Bonnie zipped her dress up in the back. "But he's my best friend, Bonnie... I can't just say, 'these decorations are really nice. Oh, by the way, I've had a huge crush on you ever since fifth grade.' That won't fly... things will just get weird between us, and I don't want that."<p>

Bonnie laughed softly. "I'm not saying you have to do that tonight. Just, I don't know, flirt. Be bold! You're not gonna have another chance to be real with him after tonight. Once the cameras are on again, the act is back. Tonight is about you and Stefan. Just give him some sort of subtle sign that you feel something. You never know, maybe he feels the same way."

Elena frowned. "He doesn't."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Has he ever told you that?" She didn't respond, making Bonnie smile. "Elena, just remember, tonight is prom. It's your night."

She grinned nervously and nodded, following Bonnie back to the clearing.

Stefan's jaw practically hit the ground. Elena walked on the grass, clad in a beautiful, indigo dress that brushed the ground with every step. At the very bottom, it was clear that the skirt had a layer of white beneath the beautiful blue-purple. The bodice was quite a sight too, the top decorated with light crystals. She looked stunning in it, perfect, incredible... all of the adjectives seemed to blur in his mind, fading into one word: Elena.

She approached him gracefully, with a light upturned curve to her elegant lips. He swallowed thickly, an attempt to hide his awestruck expression. "Wow," he started, smiling. Elena beamed, doing a dramatic twirl. "Who knew that you cleaned up so nicely?"

"Shut up!" she said, playfully hitting his shoulder. "So, are we dancing or what?"

His lips turned up in his billionth idiotic grin of the night. "I thought that I was supposed to ask that question."

"Well, I asked for you," she concluded, wrapping her arms around his neck. Stefan let out a shaky breath and wrapped his arms around her slender waist.

"Will you dance with me?" he joked once they started to sway.

"I am dancing with you." They laughed.

Stefan bit his lip. "Are you sure you want to though? I mean, the cameras are off. We can just hang out if you want. You can dance with Matt or something..."

"No... Uh, I'm fine like this. Unless you don't want to dance..."

"No, um, it's okay."

Elena smiled softly, moving a little closer. "Good," she whispered, losing herself to the beat of the music and the gentle feel of Stefan's arms.

* * *

><p>The night went by quickly, full of dancing and laughing and gossiping. Elena managed to catch up with Bonnie and Caroline and learn a few of Stefan's dance moves. At one point, he, Matt, and Tyler, high on sugar (after attempting to chug an entire liter bottle of Pepsi each), got on the stage and started trying to moon walk with the band members. The girls were practically dying on the floor with laughter and eventually joined in. Stefan taught everyone how to swing dance -no one really knows how they got on that topic- and within an hour he was twirling Elena in the air and around him. It really impressed her, to say the least.<p>

Then, everyone slow danced some more, but somehow, between stolen glances and slight flirtation, Elena ended up chasing Stefan through the woods.

"Come on!" she shouted behind him as he darted through the trees. "I just want to fix it!"

Their laughter echoed through the palm trees. "No!" he yelled in response. "I'm not letting you anywhere near my hair!"

"Diva!"

They continued at this for a few minutes until they just gave up. They ended up on another side of the woods, breathless and laughing. Feeling extremely exhausted, Stefan dramatically fell onto the ground with a plop. Elena giggled. "I've never seen you like this before," she noted, falling next to him.

"Note to self," he retorted. "An entire liter of pepsi is not made for the consumption of one person."

She rolled her eyes. "I could have told you that!"

They both laughed, even though it wasn't that funny. The mood was so careless they couldn't help but feel strangely giddy. They relaxed a bit after their side-splitting died out. The only sound being their heavy breaths, they gazed up at the stars, calming down.

"There's the big dipper," she pointed out, gesturing up to the night sky.

"That's the little dipper, Elena." He glanced over at her with a smile, and she grinned right back, turning her attention up at the sky again. "Can you find Orion's belt?"

"Yup." She let out a content breath and pointed up. "Right there." She watched as Stefan searched for it, loving the way his face lit up when he found the constellation. "You know," she said, changing the subject. "Tonight was fun. It was a good break from all of the fake stuff. I was starting to forget where reality ended and where the fantasy began."

Stefan nodded slowly. "I know what you mean. Tonight feels good. It feels real. I missed moments like these, you know, where it's just you and me."

"It's always just us, even when the cameras are on," Elena objected confusedly.

Stefan smiled lightly. "I know... but right now, everything just feels better. It feels right. I can't explain it."

A gentle breeze whooshed through the air, carrying the intoxicating scent of Stefan and his cologne to her senses. She closed her eyes for a second and just relished in it, unaware of the fact that he was watching her intently. When she opened her eyes and they came in contact with his perfect hazel ones, that somehow seemed to shine in the darkness, she could understand the way he felt. It was all in his eyes.

"You know one thing that would make this all feel even better?" she finally asked.

He continued to gaze at her intensely but softly at the same time. "What?"

She snickered and leaned closer. "If you'd let me fix your hair!" And with those words, she quickly raised her hand to smooth it out at the top, but he was too fast. Within a second, he grabbed her wrist and pinned her under him.

"Don't... you... dare...," he breathed, eyes dancing with playfulness.

Elena gasped, staring at him in shock. "Impressive moves, Mr. Salvatore."

Stefan snickered; she giggled too, though their laughter quickly faded when they realized just how close they were. With his strong body pressing against hers, and her sweet breath against his lips, his grin quickly disappeared. His heart started to race and he was almost positive that she could feel it. Gaze flickering to her lips, he forced himself to speak.

"What would you do...," he nervously whispered. Their eyes locked as Elena stared at him, awaiting to hear his next words. "...if I kissed you?"

Her body rushed with adrenaline, happily caught up in this crazy moment. "I wouldn't stop you."

Stefan exhaled shakily, the world around him completely fading away. He watched as Elena closed her eyes and he did the same, his head tilting forward...

Their lips met. And it was unlike anything else either of them had ever experienced; no, it wasn't fueled with anger and desire and insanity like their last one had been, yet it wasn't lacking anything either. It was so tender, so gentle, so loving that it made Elena's heart burst with happiness. The essence of all things Stefan flooded her body with his soft kiss that ignited her entire being. And then they both pulled away.

It only lasted about three seconds, but it was the best three seconds of her life. And when she opened her eyes and saw the expression on his handsome face, she knew that he felt the same. Just when she was about to open her mouth to speak, they were interrupted.

"Hey Elena, this guy- woah, um, sorry..." They both turned their attention to a very surprised Tyler. "Uh, this guy in a limo is here. He says it's time for you guys to get going. I'll give you a second." With that, he darted out.

Elena let out a disappointed sigh. "I have to go say goodbye to Caroline and Bonnie," she said sadly. Averting her gaze, he rolled off of her and Elena quickly rose to her feet and darted back towards the clearing. But right before she disappeared into the woods, she turned. "Stefan?"

He hesitantly turned to face her. "Yeah?"

Elena bit her lip, looking at him hopefully. "Was that our real first kiss?"

Stefan's distraught expression disappeared almost instantly. "Yeah," he answered. He smiled at her; she grinned right back. "Yeah it was."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Ahhhh! They actually kissed! This chapter was so much fun to write. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! :) I updated as fast as I possibly could for y'all! What do you think will happen now that they actually admitted to feeling something for each other? What do you want to happen?<strong>_

_**Please let me know what you thought of the chapter! Every comment inspires me and makes my day! Review if you want me to update ASAP! :)**_

_**Thanks! Xoxo,**_

_**Sara :D**_


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning, Stefan and Elena stood side-by-side in the small crowd of Perfect Match contestants. Rob was waiting for everyone to arrive, sending fake grins to every couple that met his eyes.

Elena was pressed up against Stefan's sturdy chest, the steady pulse of his heart jumping from his bare skin to hers. Clad in only a bikini, she felt more exposed than ever for the cameras. She truly felt like her skin was crawling with anxiety; the very last place she wanted to be was at a challenge pretending to be Stefan's girlfriend. She had no idea what was going through his head and she didn't have the opportunity to ask him due to the huge cameras constantly in their faces. She was sure that he felt something beyond friendship for her, but was it just a spontaneous "I wonder what it would be like" moment to him, or was it more, like it had been to her.

Although her body was pressed up against Stefan's, she never felt farther away from him.

"Okay everyone, challenge time!" Rob announced, gathering their attention. "This is what we'd like to call hookup. All the guys will be harnessed up in the air above these beds and you'll have to hold onto your girl until you no longer can. The last couple raised will be our challenge winners! If you both feel like you can't do it anymore, you'll be able to drop her onto the bed and we will unharness you. Ready to go?"

Everyone nodded. Rob smiled and stepped aside, revealing four beds. Katherine placed her hands on her hips and grabbed onto Landon to be her partner. Upon Rob's first words, Katherine's cat-like stare immediately landed on Stefan. He didn't seem to notice, but Elena managed to send a possessive glare her way. Satisfied, Elena realized that was the moment that Katherine rolled her eyes and grabbed Landon's arm.

The next thing they knew, all of the guys were sitting on a different bed, being harnessed to a thick, strong wire above them. Elena giggled in amusement as she watched Stefan stare up at the wire. It was obvious he was wondering if it could hold everyone without breaking; oh Stefan, always worrying. She took a seat next to him, glancing up. "It'll hold," she laughed.

Stefan smiled, a shy, bashful look that she'd never seen on him before, but she liked it. "How'd you know I was thinking about that?" he questioned, pretending to be creeped out.

"Because, Salvatore..." she started. "I can read your mind!"

He arched a brow amusedly, crossing his arms over his chest with that gentle half-smirk half-smile grin of his. "And how on earth do you do that, Gilbert?"

She grinned daringly, accepting his challenge, enjoying this subtle moment of flirtation between them. It was unlike any of the fake acts they'd intentionally shared for the cameras; this was real. Just Stefan and Elena in their own world... On top of the world. "Like this!" she laughed, flipping him over and putting the tips of her fingers on his temple.

"Hey!" A sound that vaguely resembled a growl rumbled from Stefan's chest and within the next second he had her under him again. She couldn't help but be reminded that this was how their kiss happened last night, and from the look on Stefan's face, she knew the exact same thing crossed his mind.

Finally, after a long, intense pause, Stefan said, "You don't know what I'm thinking about."  
>"Why's that?"<p>

He swallowed thickly, his eyes burning into hers. "Because if you did... things would be a whole lot different."

Elena didn't know how to respond, but luckily, she didn't have to, because Rob announced that the challenge was starting. She gasped excitedly, staring at her best friend for instructions. "How the hell are we doing this?"

They confusedly glanced around, until they saw Mia and Peter embraced tightly together, with her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders. Both shocked by the idea, they exchanged weary glances and slowly nodded. Strategically, Elena wrapped herself around Stefan and they were hoisted into the air.

Fifteen minutes easily passed, until they both realized this was not as easy as it looked. With Elena clinging desperately to Stefan's torso, it was straining her every muscle. "Ow..." she muttered when he rested his head down on her shoulder.

"Sorry." He instantly lifted his head back up despite his exhaustion, his own arms getting sore from holding her tightly against him. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she breathed slowly. "Distract me... please."

Stefan furrowed his brows for a moment, until his gaze fell on one of the cameras down below focused squarely on them. Huh, he'd completely forgotten that it was there. Well, might as well put on a show, he figured. So, Stefan rested his head down on her shoulder and placed light, teasing kisses along her neck.

Elena let in a sharp intake of breath when she felt his cool lips graze her overheated skin. All of the sudden, her bare skin pressed up against his seemed to be catching her attention; she hadn't realized just how close they were. She knew this was for show, but she was instantly caught up in it, in him. "Mmm..."

Stefan chuckled in response to her, making Elena pull away and fake glare at him. "You laughing at me?" she demanded with an arched eyebrow.

"Never!" he declared. Elena laughed and dramatically rolled her eyes in response to his sarcasm. With the little strength she had, she managed to move her hand around to slap him in the arm.

He jumped a bit when she did this, and Elena giggled. Her eyes igniting with a fiery challenge, she willed him to make the next move. And so, he did. Moving his arm around, he managed to nip at her neck in that one spot that always made her squeal because she was so ticklish.

This meant war.

Laughing like a little kid, she reached around and pressed a finger right into his side, causing him to gasp squeeze onto her with a jolt. "Seriously, Lena?" She smirked deviously and nodded.

Within about thirty seconds, they were practically a tangled, laughing, fighting mess suspended in mid air. Of course, this didn't end well, because when Stefan reached around to get her in the side, she fought back, lost her grip, and fell down onto the white bed, laughing the whole way.

They definitely lost the challenge, but that was more than okay. 

* * *

><p>Elena dropped the book she was reading and checked the clock. 11 pm. She sighed sadly, wishing Stefan was there to keep her company. He vanished a few hours ago and she hadn't seen him since. A part of her wondered if he was avoiding the inevitable conversation they had to have about their kiss.<p>

Letting out a sigh, she swung her legs over the side of their blue bed and walked out onto the balcony. The cool, California air blew her hair behind her and relaxed her. Below her, waves crashed from the small beach, creating just the smallest mist. She grinned softly, looking down. Her gaze fell on the familiar silhouette of a man against a blowing palm tree.

It was clearly Stefan, writing away in his journal. She could tell that he was frustrated by whatever he was trying to say. Elena just watched for a few minutes as he wrote, crossed something out then just ripped the piece out and started all over again. Was he having conflicted emotions about their kiss? With a frown, she slipped back inside, determined to find him and talk to him about whatever was on his mind.

Her bare feet made no sound against the sand as Elena walked down to the beach. Expecting to see Stefan by the palm tree, she quickly noticed he was no longer there. She glanced around and found him closer to the pool area now, in a friendly conversation with Todd about something they clearly didn't care about. His journal was securely under his arm as he smiled at Todd and shook his hand in farewell before heading into the house.

Elena just stood there for a moment, looking out at the ocean. The salty air cooled her face and she couldn't help but sigh in longing, wondering what was to come for her and Stefan now. Just as she was about to turn around and go back inside, her foot hit something.

Curiously, Elena reached down to grab the item. It didn't take her long to realize it was a torn out, crumpled piece of paper from Stefan's journal, the intricate hand writing on it being a dead giveaway. Without even thinking, her eyes scanned over the nearly empty page, concentrating on the few words elegantly written in the center:

_Elena. There isn't a moment that goes by when I'm not thinking about her. And the worst part? There's absolutely nothing I can do to stop it. Because... I love her, and I always will. _

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: So now Elena knows! Sorry to leave you all with that cliffhanger... What do you think will happen now? Will she admit her feelings to him right away, or will she wait? Where does this leave them?<strong>_

_**I hope you also like the fluff from the challenge- haha! This challenge idea was submitted from SparkleyAngel (who got it from the Bachelor Pad :D) and I hope y'all enjoyed the way I wrote it out. Let me know! **_

**_Please review with your thoughts. Tell me what you like, love, hate... Every comment inspires me sooo much! What do you think will happen with Stefan and Elena now? When will they get another chance to truly be alone? _**

**_Review for a quick update! :)_**

**_Thanks! Xoxo,_**

**_Sara :D_**


	9. Chapter 9

_A drop in the ocean... _

_A change in the weather_

_I was praying that you and me might end up together..._

* * *

><p>Her body trembling and shaking with every little step, Elena slowly opened the door into their suite. The paper from Stefan's diary was securely in her back pocket, not going anywhere. She definitely wasn't letting go of it anytime soon.<p>

Her heart was racing in her chest; she could hear her nervous pulse pounding in her ears, could feel it in her neck, in her fingertips. She could hardly even process the information she had just learned; Stefan loved her, truly, deeply loved her.

A wry smile formed on her lips. Her best friend, Stefan Salvatore, loved her, the boy who taught her how to put movies onto a gameboy, the little boy who had her dancing around her room in fifth grade with a huge teddy bear that she sometimes pretended was him. How long had he felt this way?

Elena didn't know how on earth she was going to talk to him... Maybe she would wait, she decided. When she entered the bedroom of the suite, her gaze immediately landed on Stefan, lying carelessly on the bed, with the sheets kicked down to the foot and one of his arms hanging loosely over the side. Instead of staying on his side, he had managed to take up the entire mattress, his head on her pillow. His stomach rose and fell with every heavy intake of breath, lips gently parted. He was already half asleep and Elena had to restrain herself from laughing.

She quickly got ready and hopped into bed as much as she could. Amused, she nudged Stefan over to his side so that she could get in, eliciting a tiny groan from his lips. Then, when all was silent, and the only sound filling the warm room was the gentle waves crashing beyond the balcony and the rain beginning to drizzle on the tin roof, Elena just sat there.

What did all of this mean? Where did she go from here?

She turned her head to look at Stefan, wishing it would be so easy that she actually could just touch his forehead and read his mind. But, no... she couldn't, and besides, if she was able to read his mind, things would be different. That's what he told her, and she believed him.

Still, Elena was determined to at least give Stefan a glimpse into her own mind. After all, he deserved that much.

* * *

><p>He was roused from a deep sleep by her relentless nudging. "Stefan!"<p>

He moaned angrily, refusing to open his eyes, reaching around for another pillow to put over his head. "Mmm!" he practically growled, but she simply laughed and flipped him over.

"Stefan," Elena whispered urgently. "Wake up. We need to talk... I know where to go."

Barely opening his eyes, he groggily turned his head to shoot her a glare. "What... time is it?" he mumbled. He could vaguely hear Elena sigh as she slid off of the bed.

"Three in the morning," she replied coolly. Stefan, who was just about to open his mouth and complain was immediately interrupted. "Please, Stefan. It's important."

"Why right now?" he pleaded.

"Because it's raining," she said with a nervous edge to her voice, making Stefan wonder if she had slept at all. "And it's the middle of the night. There won't be any cameras outside. Come on. We need to talk."

How on earth could he say no to her?

Within a few minutes, Elena was dragging Stefan outside, onto the sandy shore of the beach. Finally, both standing under a large palm tree, they stopped and Elena stared at Stefan. "What is this about?" he finally asked.

He gazed at Elena in confusion for a long, silent moment. He made note of her every twitch and quirk: the way she bit her bottom lip in anticipation, the way she shifted weight between feet, until she finally spoke up. "We've both been keeping secrets from each other. Maybe me more than you. But, it's time to get them off of our chests."

He swallowed thickly, trying not to avert his gaze. Elena always hated it when he looked away from her during a conversation. "What are you talking about?"

She let out the breath she didn't even know she had been holding, reaching into the pocket of her sweatpants to grab the ripped out letter from his diary. "You were writing in your journal," she started. "You looked frustrated, upset. I didn't know why at the time, so I went to find you, but you had already gone. Then, I found this, and everything started to make sense. The way you set up prom for me... Every single kiss..."

Stefan's eyes widened in panic as he quickly snatched the letter from her and ran his eyes over the page urgently. When the realization hit him of what exactly he had written and what she had read, his heart dropped into his stomach. "Oh my god," he breathed. No, this couldn't be happening. He felt as if all of the walls that had been holding him up were suddenly caving in, and he couldn't breathe, couldn't explain.

Elena frowned deeply upon seeing his reaction. "Stefan...," she murmured.

It took him a few seconds to actually get himself together and speak. "We should both just go back to bed, Elena. I-I can't have this conversation right now," he stuttered out, hurriedly turning his back on her, stepping out from under the palm tree into the soaking rain. He sighed heavily as the cool water pelted down onto his skin, though it did not help to relax him. Despite his words, he walked toward the shoreline instead of the house, running his hands through his already wet hair, an attempt to keep his cool. How could this have happened? He'd never felt angrier with himself! How stupid was he, leaving that page in the sand? And now, along with that saddening ache in his chest, he was afraid to even look at Elena. What would she think of him now?

He didn't dare turn back, but he knew she was staring at him. And when he heard her voice right behind him, it was no surprise. "I shouldn't have even read it," she confessed. Elena's words were soft, a sharp contrast to the booming voice in his head.

Stefan kept his head down. "But you did," he said quietly.

Elena simply watched him, hoping that he would turn around and say more, but he didn't. "So that's how you're going to deal with it? By shutting me out?"

Finally, something inside of him snapped, and he turned around as the rain continued to pour down on his face. "How am I supposed to react, Elena!" he demanded bitterly, though she could see right through him. He wasn't mad at her or being intentionally hurtful; he was caught off guard, scared. "It wasn't supposed to happen this way! It's never going to be the same. Yes, I'm crazy about you, but I know I can't be because that would be wrong. I can't even remember a time when I wasn't thinking about you. But you were always my best friend and I couldn't screw that up. I tried, Elena! I tried so hard to move on and stop thinking about you, but I couldn't! And it drove me crazy... it still does. No matter what I do, there's nothing I can do to stop-"

Suddenly, he was cut off from his maudlin babbling. Yes, Elena had interrupted him, but not in the way he had expected...

She silenced him with a kiss. In the midst of his endless rant, Elena grabbed him by the hair and crashed her lips against his in a fiery lip lock, and he, a helpless victim to her touch, instantly kissed back. The passion she displayed made him both euphoric and confused as he raised a hand to cup her cheek. His mind was telling him that this wasn't smart, that he needed to know what was going on, but his heart and body simply wouldn't listen. Neither would hers. Every single time he attempted to pull away, it seemed either he wouldn't physically be able to or she would not let him.

Eventually though, the kiss had to come to an end. They both reluctantly pulled away, breathless and panting and staring into each other's eyes. Stefan's fathomless pools of hazel shone with desire and confusion, while Elena's were full of elation. She laughed, the pouring rain still drenching both of them, and brought her hands up to both sides of his face.

"W-why?" he finally asked.

"I don't want you to try and make it stop." Elena grinned softly. "I feel the same way."

His eyes flashed with awe and shock. "What?" He chuckled softly, a quick sound of amazement.

Elena laughed, grabbing his face and resting her forehead against his. "I've had the biggest crush on you since we were in fifth grade."

He was in complete and utter shock; this felt almost too good to be true. "Then why have we been pretending to be in love this whole time?"

Elena and Stefan both stared at each other for a long moment, soaking wet but not seeming to notice, too caught up in this surprisingly incredible moment, their lips meeting again simultaneously. Nothing was there to watch them -no cameras, no people-, except for the moon that brightly loomed overhead.

They kissed until the sun came up.

* * *

><p><em>It's like wishing for rain as I stand in the desert...<em>

_But I'm holding you closer than most_

_'Cause you are my heaven._

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Yayyy, they finally admitted their feelings for each other! What on earth will happen now that they both are willing to accept this relationship? Will their friendship fall through the cracks or will it shine through stronger than ever? <strong>_

_**Sorry if this chapter seemed cheesy. I don't think it's my best work. Ugh, I had a little writer's block when it came to writing this out. I hope it was okay. Let me know what you thought!**_

_**Please give me your feedback! You guys know how much you ALWAYS inspire me! :) Tell me the good, the bad, it all makes my day and helps me write the best updates I can for you all!**_

_** Review for a quick update!**_

_**Thanks! Xoxo,**_

_**Sara**_


	10. Chapter 10

"Stefan."

"Hmm?"

"Are you awake?"

The only reply Elena got was a soft chuckle. She sleepily turned her head to glance over at him, grinning softly at the breathtaking sight. Stefan's green eyes looked like an endless spring pond as the Californian sunrise shone through them, making her smile. His chestnut hair, usually gelled up or back was resting carelessly on his forehead. His clothes, damp from the previous rainfall, were wrinkled, not that he really cared.

Elena decided that she liked seeing him this way. "You look happy," she noted after a comfortable silence.

Stefan grinned widely, an expression that made her heart do crazy things. "I am," was all that he said. And it was all he needed to say, because she knew exactly why.

They hadn't slept at all last night; the entire evening and morning had been replete with kisses, longing looks, and few words. After all, in the euphoric state both of them were thrown into, simple sentences would have been extremely hard to form. It didn't matter though; their lips spoke their own language, whispering things that could never be explained any other way.

Gently and gradually, Elena slid her hand down until her fingers finally entwined with his. A perfect fit. She laughed, turning on her side to face him, and he instantly turned in her direction.

"What now?" Elena asked hesitantly. His eyes locked with hers as he gave her fingers a gentle squeeze.

"You're mine," he answered pleasantly, giving her that warm grin that always managed to make her stomach flutter. "And I'm yours."

Elena bit her bottom lip timidly, simply smiling in return. "Promise?"

"Promise." 

* * *

><p>Stefan walked through the hallway of the house, a careless, happy look plastered on his face. He couldn't wipe away his smile and he definitely didn't want to. He was running on pretty much no sleep, but that was okay. He probably couldn't have slept even if he wanted to.<br>"Someone looks happy," he heard from behind. Startled, Stefan turned and jumped, only to be met with Katherine's seductive gaze. "Hi."

Instantly, he rolled his eyes. Mood shattered. "What do you want Katherine?"

"You," she smirked. "But that's beside the point." Her eyes shamelessly raked over his body and she seductively took a step closer. Instantly, he was overwhelmed with the alluring scent of cinnamon and chocolate, but didn't move closer like she'd been hoping.

"I'm not really in the mood for your games, Katherine," he snapped.

She laughed. "Why not? They're so easy, Stefan. No rules..." Her catlike grin grew even wider as she teasingly trailed her fingers up his chest. He slapped her hand away, but her grin remained confident, unfazed. "And if I remember correctly, you loved them last time."

He glared coldly. "Go away, Katherine. I don't need you screwing anything else up."

She huffed. "Don't act like that, Stef. You were crazy about me. Don't you remember that night last September... when we left the Lockwood party early... so that we could-"

"I call that a mistake." He still refused to give the reaction she was hoping for, and interrupted her before she could finish. "That was over a year ago. Anything I felt for you has completely diminished and faded to hatred."

"Is there a problem?" Jem's deep voice interrupted Katherine and Stefan's intense stare-down. His light, sandy brown hair fell in his eyes, and Janie, who was always at his side, sensually brushed it away as they approached them.

"No," Katherine replied with bitter politeness. "Stefan was just inviting me to hang out with him tonight in his room..."

Janie's jaw dropped, looking at Stefan in shock, causing him to glare at Katherine, furious. "Elena and I are inviting everyone," he answered quickly, finding an excuse for his ex's lie. "I was just about to find you guys and ask you."

Jem smiled kindly. "That sounds like fun. It would be great to-"  
>"-get to know our housemates. I mean, it's been almost three weeks and we hardly know anyone," Janie finished his sentence. They both looked up at each other with a loving smile. "We'd love to come over."<p>

Stefan awkwardly smiled. "Great."

"I'll tell Mia and Peter," Janie offered.

"Oooh!" Katherine interjected. "I'll tell Landon and Todd. This'll be a fun night." With that, everyone exchanged smiles and parted ways. Stefan stood there for a second, wondering how on earth this had even happened. With a shake of his head, he turned the knob into his and Elena's room.

As soon as he entered, his gaze fell on Elena, laying on her stomach on the bed, absorbed in the television. He slowly made his way into the bedroom, never once letting his gaze move away from her.

He soundlessly scooted onto the bed, laying on his stomach too to stare at the television. But first, he leaned close to her, placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, and whispered softly, "Hi."

Elena giggled, her attention instantly pulled off of the television as she leaned into his touch. Playfully pouting, she looked into his green eyes. "Don't interrupt me while I'm watching Big Bang Theory." It was clear from the tone of her voice that she really couldn't care less about the program when he was beside her.

"Mmm, sorry," he whispered when he pulled his lips away from her cheek.

Elena laughed, glancing back at the TV. "We should make a relationship contract, like Sheldon and Amy."

He chuckled at her words, shaking his head. "Okay," he agreed playfully, glancing up in that way that showed he was thinking. "So that means that there's absolutely no hand holding, unless we are in one of two situations: one of us is in danger of falling off of a cliff, or for moral support during flu shots."

"Sounds good," Elena joked, amused at him quoting the show. "But I was thinking more on the lines of, 'only for a hearty handshake if one of the members of the party wins a nobel prize'. But the cliff thing, that sounds legit."

Stefan laughed, glancing at the TV then back at her. "No flu shots?"

Scooting a little closer to him, Elena shook her head. "We're such dorks," she concluded, leaning over to rest her head on his broad shoulder. "I think you're rubbing off on me."

"We're like a real life Shamy!" Stefan smiled, glancing at her head on his shoulder, loving the way it felt. He decided nothing felt better than being close to Elena like this. It wasn't awkward like he feared, it was just Elena and Stefan, Stefan and Elena in their truest element. They didn't even care about the cameras anymore... they didn't matter as much anymore. After all, they didn't have much to hide now. "Did you get any sleep?"

"Indeed we are!" Elena agreed amusedly. "And yeah. I took a nap. Have you?"

"Nope," Stefan replied.

"Then sleep!"

He simply shook his head in response. "Later, I promise. Right now, I just want to hold onto this moment." Gently, he rested his cheek on the top of her head, inhaling her sweet scent that sang of coconut and honey and summer.

Elena giggled. "That was cheesy." Instantly, Stefan apologized gently and with a laugh, but she shook her head. "No. I like it." With that, she turned her head to face him, her heart strangely picking up in her chest. Still grinning just a bit, she glanced down at his lips, feeling nervous, until she reminded herself that she could kiss him. After all, she was his and he was hers. He promised her that.

She wasted far too much time thinking, so he kissed her instead.

That move definitely had her heart doing somersaults. She knew, without a doubt, that Stefan felt the exact same way about her as she did with him. Sitting up so that he could wrap her arms around her, she followed his direction, their lips moving rhythmically with every gentle kiss exchanged.

Stefan lost all train of thought the second their lips met; she just had that effect on him. Slowly, he raised his hand and cupped her face, lightly caressing her cheekbone with his thumb. So much for keeping their attention on the Big Bang Theory. Her kisses were like rain in springtime: gentle but overwhelming, sweet, refreshing, beautiful.

Somehow, with her arms around his shoulders and one of his arms around her waist, they ended up gradually falling until her back was against the mattress and he was hovering over her, their kisses deepening and growing into something much more passionate and fiery. He could feel her body arching up to meet his, the contact of their skin igniting a desire in him that he didn't even know he possessed.

He brought up both hands to hold her face, trailing his lips down her cheek, to her neck, doing things that in response had her breathing heavily and running her hand along his back.

Suddenly, they were interrupted by a knock to their suite door. Instantly, Stefan sat up and stared in the direction of the door, realizing that they were supposed to be having their housemates over.

Elena, on the other hand, needed a moment to regroup. With a hand over her pounding heart, she stared up at the ceiling for a brief second before smiling to herself. "Are you okay?" she asked playfully when she finally sat up.

He smiled and turned back around. "Yeah, sorry. I just told some people they could come over..."  
>Elena nodded. "Maybe we should press pause."<p>

"Yeah, you're probably right," he agreed. "That was getting a bit..."

Elena scrunched her nose cutely, interrupting him. "...Yeah."

"Yeah." They both laughed, and Stefan let out a sigh and went to answer the door. Elena sat there and watched him, wondering how on earth she'd gotten so lucky.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Yayyy! Finally an update! I was going to update earlier, but of course, the website wasn't working. LOL! I was sooo mad. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. It's mainly fluff, because I was having a little writer's block. How will the get-together go? What will Katherine be up to?<strong>_

_**BTW, for those of you who don't watch the Big Bang, Shamy is the nerdy couple of all nerdy couples, and they have a "Relationship Agreement" which is what Stefan and Elena were quoting :)**_

__  
><em><strong>How was I with writing Stelena as a couple? I don't want to make it feel too rushed. Haha, I just had to quote that scene in 1x04 in the end :) I thought it was fitting. Please let me know what you thought: what you love, what you hate, what you want to see! <strong>_

__  
><em><strong>Every single comment inspires me more than I can explain! So, review for a quick update!<strong>_  
><em><strong>Thanks! Xoxo!<strong>_


	11. Chapter 11

"You guys have a hot tub. Why don't we have a hot tub?" Mia complained as she slipped into the bubbling, warm water with a sigh of contentment.

Peter, with his stereotypical surfer sandy blonde hair, laughed. "We have a mini pool, Mia. Under our shower tap..."

Resting against the island, already bored, Katherine scoffed. Without looking up, she rolled her deep, brown eyes. "That's called a bathtub, genius," she retorted. "Where's Stefan? This party is a total drag without him."

Elena crossed her arms over her chest, already glaring at the brunette across from her. "Probably avoiding you," she quipped bitterly. Katherine simply laughed and poured herself a glass of wine.

"Why do you care so much about Stefan?" Janie asked as politely as she could. She was in the hot tub with Jem's tanned arm gently around her shoulders. "He doesn't really strike me as the life of the party type."

Katherine amusedly arched a perfectly waxed eyebrow. "No one told you? I was Stefan's first love. He never really got over me. Hasn't anyone ever noticed that Elena kind of looks like me?"

"There is a resemblance. You guys could be sisters," Mia noted. Katherine smirked, but Elena simply clenched her jaw.

"Maybe," she replied calmly, "Stefan only dated you in the first place because you looked like me."

Katherine took a long, leisurely sip of her wine. "No need to get catty, Elena. I was simply making an observation." She giggled against the glass.

Just then, Stefan arrived, carrying bags upon bags of every imaginable junk food: from Doritos to Hostess cupcakes. "Hope you guys are hungry," he laughed, setting everything down on the island, without giving Katherine a second glance, despite her flirtatious grin. "Please tell me the answer to that is yes, because I didn't rob from the producer's food stash for nothing."

"Yo," Peter shouted excitedly, his deep voice echoing through the suite. "Pass the cheese puffs, bro!"

Stefan smiled and threw them right to him.

"Nice throw!" Jem complimented with an impressed grin. "You play baseball?"

"Actually," Elena proudly interjected. "Stefan's on the football team. He's a star!"

Stefan timidly smiled and shook his head in protest. "She's a liar." Everyone -except for Katherine- smiled at Stefan and Elena, laughing softly at their playful exchange and the way they secretly glanced at each other across the room through their lashes.

Katherine sighed, lamely glancing around. "Excuse me, Stefan. Where is the restroom?" she asked with mock kindness.

His voice was cold when he replied. "Through the bedroom to your left."

With a smirk, she grinned and walked past everyone. "Thanks."

* * *

><p>The night progressed quickly -Katherine left along with Landon and Todd-, and before they even knew it, they were sitting in a big circle like middle schoolers, laughing and getting to know each other with silly, jovial games.<p>

"Elena, it's your turn!" Janie smiled. "Truth or dare?"

Elena bit her lip, slowly raising her head from Stefan's shoulder to look around at the circle of people. "Um... What the hell! Dare," she insisted brightly, causing Stefan to laugh.

Stefan looked down at her, determined to be the one to think of the dare this time, considering his previous ideas had been terrible, involving the cliche request of trying to drink ketchup. "I dare you..." He bit his bottom lip, pondering for a moment.

Elena couldn't help but stare up at him, enjoying the playfully pensive look in his teal eyes. His face, always perfectly smooth and full of handsome tenderness, was showing every aspect of a grin, from the curve of his lips to the tiny glimmer in his fathomless pools of blue-green. Honestly, she couldn't care less about the game they were all playing, as long as she could sit here and stare up at him, inhaling the sweet, subtle scent of his shampoo that emanated off of his skin.

"...To let me do your makeup."

Oh lord. Peaceful mood shattered. Her eyes widened and she instantly shook her head; if there was one thing she didn't want, it was her best -guy- friend going anywhere near her makeup collection. But, with a sigh, she rolled her eyes and went into the bedroom, soon returning with her makeup case.

She almost handed it over to Stefan, until she darkly warned, "Screw up any of my brushes and you're sleeping in the bottom of the ocean."

Everyone laughed.

Elena refused to look in the mirror once he was finished; Janie and Mia's echoing laughter was indication enough that Stefan had done a terrible job. Well, she knew that well enough when he went to use her cherry-red lipstick as eyeshadow.

"This is why men shouldn't do their makeup," Mia barely got out, almost rolling on the floor in hysterics.

Janie was almost dying too, clutching Jem's arm, unable to even form any words.

"I tried," Stefan confessed with mock sadness.

Elena winced. "I'm not even looking."

She could have sworn she saw the faintest of blushes creep onto his face. It was... adorable.

"Stefan's turn," Jem announced. "Truth or dare."

The eighteen year old bashfully laughed, taking a long moment to bury his face in his hands. "After that, I feel obliged to say dare."

Mia devilishly smirked, her blonde curls bouncing as she sat up with a mischievous idea. Her gray eyes shone with... something that made Stefan's jaw clench in nervousness. "I dare you... to go skinny dipping. Right now."

His eyes widened, and he had to stifle a laugh. "That's it? Easy."

When she heard his words, Elena's eyes widened a little bit from their natural state as she stared at him through her hideous makeup. "You've been before?"

His sensual lips turned up in a grin. "You haven't?"

Elena smiled, watching as Stefan confidently stood up, gesturing for everyone to follow him outside, a sort of lightness to his steps that she hadn't seen in a long time. Stefan rarely let himself have fun -it was just who he was- but tonight, she could see he was letting go. And she liked it.

She really liked it.

When they approached the beach, she watched as Stefan kept going to the shore line, his broad, tall silhouette contrasting perfectly with the navy blue sky. For these brief seconds, she could have sworn that she saw him fade from the reserved, cautious, loving man he had come to the fearless, reckless little boy he used to be. It made her feel warm inside, to be reminded exactly why she fell for him all the way back in fifth grade.

And to see why she still loved him. He was noble now, more complex, but yet, he was still Stefan. Her Stefan.

By the time she'd snapped out of her thoughts, he was already in the water. "You've gotta be kidding me!" she joked, shouting loud enough so that he could hear. "I missed the best part!"

Peter stared into the water. "The dude's a psycho. What if there's like... a crocodile in the ocean?"

Mia rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's comment, and no one chose to respond. Besides, Elena hardly even heard him, for she was too busy trying to see Stefan's head when it popped up from below the surface of the water. He looked... beautiful, in the only way to put it, with his dripping hair clinging to his face as he sprung up, only to go back under again, smoothly and gracefully.

She anxiously nibbled on her bottom lip. "You know what, guys... I have a lot of this ridiculous makeup on. Maybe I'd better wash it off." The words escaped her lips before she even realized she was speaking.

Mia and Janie exchanged glances, while Jem simply laughed and Peter was too busy searching the Pacific Ocean for any signs of gators or crocodiles. Oh, Peter...

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Janie giggled.

Letting out the breath Elena didn't even realize she'd been holding, she took a slow step down the beach onto the shoreline. She glanced back at everyone, only to realize that Janie and Mia were discreetly ushering the guys back inside. Janie turned around to give her a playful thumbs up before pushing everyone in the house.

Elena laughed.

Very nervously, she reached around to her back and pulled down the zipper of her sundress, closing her eyes as the cool, California air created gooseflesh on her now bare skin.

Within seconds, she was diving into the warm, dark water. The ocean felt thankfully refreshing against her skin, the current pushing her hair behind her like wind blowing through a summer evening. When she popped her head up, she eagerly glanced around.

"Stefan?"

There was a long pause as she was greeted with nothing but silence, until finally his head came up right in front of her; he greeted her with a chaste kiss that left her breathless. "Fancy seeing you here," he drawled, and she knew that he was grinning, even though it was pitch black.

"What can I say?" she teased. "I had all this makeup I needed to wash away. And I figured I'd conserve water instead of taking a shower."

"Is that so?" Stefan questioned.

"Mmmhmm," she beamed, lifting her head to stare up at the full moon hanging overhead. "Why are you in such a light mood tonight?"

Almost absently, Stefan moved Elena's hair from her right shoulder onto her back, so that he could ever so gently graze his fingertips along the curve of her bare shoulder, an act that was so soft, so natural it gave her chills. "One of two options," he started, all of the hyper juvenility completely vanished from his voice, as if his touch to her shoulder was relaxing him just as much as it was relaxing her. "One: One too many cupcakes." He laughed gently, and she did too; Stefan's tolerance to sugar was as low as a six-year-old's. "And two: It just kind of hit me, that all of this is real. That we're real. Us. I don't know... It just made me feel-"

"-better?" Elena tore her gaze from the night sky to stare at Stefan's perfect, bashful face, though his eyes were not burning through hers like they sometimes tended to do. No, they were concentrated on the way his fingers brushed back and forth along her soft skin. And for some odd reason, it had the exact same affect.

"Yes," Stefan agreed. "It just made me feel better." The pleasant shadow of yet another smile showed on his face, his fingers slowly trailing down her shoulder, to her arm, to her hand beneath the surface, where their fingers entwined.

For the first time with him, Elena was at a loss for words. She knew that Stefan could be loving and gentle, but never had she expected him to be loving and gentle towards her. The simple intimacy of this moment was something that could never be replaced or explained, but merely a feeling that neither Stefan nor Elena would ever be able to forget. Just simply gazing at each other and just... _being_. With their fingers knotted together and the only sound being their subtle breathing and the sound of waves crashing around them, time almost seemed to freeze. She never thought that she'd see her own best friend gazing at her with such admiration, such love. But she couldn't get enough of it.

"Your mascara is smudging," he observed.

Elena laughed. "That isn't mascara, Stefan. That's eyeliner."

With a smile, he brought his lips to her face, ever so gently kissing away the dark smudge that the water had created. She instantly let out a content sigh, more than happy to let the feelings he was offering wash over her like a tide. It almost felt too perfect, being with him like this. Almost.

He trailed his lips down the side of her face to her neck, causing her to tilt it to the side, giving him more exposure. She hadn't expected things to feel so incredibly right between them, hadn't expected her soul to quickly become a possession of Stefan's, merely from a kiss and a simple touch of skin. But it was undoubtedly his now, and he could have it, as long as he continued to make her feel like this.

But then again, maybe he'd captured her soul the very moment she met him and decided they were more similar than different. For in the long run, they both longed for the same thing: to love and to be loved.

Her eyes drifted closed by the time Stefan's lips had finally reached hers again, their kiss filled with a shocking tenderness that made her heart swell. Instantly, her arm slowly wound around his shoulder to pull him as close as he possibly could get, skin to skin, heart to rushing heart.

It was odd, she realized. Being this close to him almost felt as if her heart was jumping out of her chest simply to meet his, to merge into one soul, like two raindrops falling into one.

Neither of them had expected to feel such a bruising love tonight; it had pleasantly caught them off guard.

And so, they stayed like this all night, kissing in the middle of the ocean until dawn came.

It seemed to be a habit they were quickly getting into, not that they minded. 

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Yay, finally an update! LOL! I'm sorry... stupid writer's block. I hope this chapter was okay; I never really feel confident in chapters I post after having writer's block. Let me know if it was okay!<strong>_

**_I got like five requests for Stelena skinny dipping, so how could I not give it to you all? Haha! And as for the makeup idea, that was from an anon :D_**

_**Yay, for Stefan and Elena being meant to be together! Haha, I'm sorry if their romantic moment felt kind of rushed, but I thought that if this were real life, Stefan would be giving her kisses like that. Because honestly, Stefan and Elena have this magical chemistry that shows how much they love each other, and I just hope I did it justice :)**_

**_Please review with your opinions! Let me know what you loved, hated, etc! Everything means so much to me and your inspiring comments really help me out of my writer's block! _**

**_Thanks! Xoxo :)_**

**_-Sara_**


	12. Chapter 12

Katherine sat silently in the tiny, austere interview room, putting on a fake smile for the camera man as he asked her different questions.

"Actually," she started bitterly, reaching into her big, Coach purse. "I have something to tell the general public, and the producers... It may come as a shock." Her eyes bore right into the glass lens of the camera. "It's about your so called, 'fan favorite' couple, Stefan and Elena."

* * *

><p>"Stefan! What are you doing?" Elena hardly got out through her relentless giggling. "Stop! Stop! That tickles!" She simultaneously gasped and laughed at the same time, attempting to press her head against her shoulder to keep him from attacking her neck with fluttering kisses that both warmed her up and made her skin tickle.<p>

He chuckled against her, and she could feel the vibration of his lips against her skin as he did so, causing her to close her eyes softly. Almost unfortunately, Stefan actually listened to her and stopped placing those teasing kisses on the column of her throat. She huffed in protest, until she realized that he decided to move to her lips.

Minutes passed, and tender caresses gradually turned to hair pulling and eager gasps.

"Excuse me," Rob said as politely as he could, reminding Stefan and Elena that they were in a small crowd and in public. "I'd like to introduce the next challenge. It's called the Nearly Wed Game."

Stefan exhaled sadly against Elena's lips. Stupid reality show... he just wanted her without all of this extra attention. He didn't care if they were around everyone at the moment; he didn't want to pull away. Their lips hardly parting an inch, Stefan kept his eyes closed as he whispered, "Mmm... what have you done to me?"

Elena laughed gently. They were so close that she could still feel his breath against her lips, every little intake and outtake... "What have you done to me?" she commented right back.

Stefan smiled, leaning in to give her one more gentle kiss. "I never thought I'd be this kind of boyfriend," he sighed playfully with a shake of the head.

She arched a brow and pretended to be insulted, but really, how could she, when he was kissing her like that? "What kind of boyfriend?"

Grinning brightly and softly, he opened his eyes. "You know... midnight swims, night-long kisses, PDAs..."

Elena's chocolate eyes lit up with amusement. "Oh my god! I've turned you into a total sap," she exclaimed, extremely pleased with herself.

Stefan hung his head in shame. "You totally have." Despite his depressed body language, he couldn't help but glance up at her jokingly through his half closed eye lids.

She instantly raised his chin, going up on her tip toes so that their eyes were level, fiery brown to shining green. His skin was smooth beneath her hands, and the action of pulling him close, though it really was so foreign to the best friends, felt familiar in the best of ways. "I love it though," she chided, pulling him in for another kiss.

They completely missed Rob's instructions. Oh well.

It turned out the game was fairly simple. The guys all left the room and were ushered into the building while the girls all sat at their own booth. Rob asked them multiple questions, from their boyfriend's favorite color, to more uncomfortable and heartbreaking questions... But Elena answered as honestly as she could. Then, the guys were brought back outside where they had to answer the same questions. If both of their answers matched up, they got a point.

The game quickly progressed, and Elena and Stefan were easily getting points with simple questions, like how many boyfriends Elena had had, what Stefan's biggest fears were. They had a strong lead.

Rob raised the next card, clearing his throat. "Okay, guys, next question... Who's better in bed?" He chuckled as he curiously waited for the replies.

Stefan froze. How on earth was he supposed to know if he'd never been with Elena like that in the first place? How would she know? Could he base it off of the way they kissed each other and grasped each other in rare, midnight moments of desire? Hopefully.

"Elena," he said as calmly as possible. When she raised her card, it said his name. They both looked at each other, blushing madly, and laughed, entwining hands.  
>Rob held up his cards and smiled. "Which girl in the house would you most likely end up cheating with?"<p>

Stefan uncomfortably shifted in his seat, and Elena sighed, gripping the card where she'd already written the answer. She knew what she had written, and was solemnly prepared to hear it as Stefan's reply to the question.

With a deep sigh, she watched as he bit his lip and shook his head, as if he were outraged by it. "No one! I wouldn't do anything in the world to hurt Elena like that," he said sternly.

Then, everyone shifted their eager gazes to Elena's face, where she gripped the card tightly, wondering why she even had to show it now. But, those were the rules, so shakily, she raised the paper. In big letters, clearly angrily written in her usually handwriting, was the name "Katherine."

She was rewarded with an agonizing silence. Fearing Stefan's anguished gaze, Elena kept her head down, but in the corner of her eye, she could clearly make out Katherine's smug grin.

Stefan let go of her hand.

* * *

><p>With the moon looming brightly through the large window, Elena was enveloped in warm springtime as the breeze rushed through the open window and gently brushed her hair behind her. She wasn't doing much of anything, as long as spending an endless hour staring at Stefan counted as nothing.<br>Writing away in his journal, he was on the balcony, outstretched on the white, plastic beach chair. Elena wondered if he knew how much time had passed by, since he'd hardly moved at all since they returned from the challenge. He clearly had a lot to say.

The question about Katherine continued to swim through her mind, and she wished more than anything that she could take her answer away. She knew better than anyone that Stefan was beyond committed to her, but she stupidly let her jealousy get in the way and ended up hurting him. He probably thought that she was worried about him secretly wishing she were Katherine, when Elena knew that was far from the truth. Stefan wanted her, and he had wanted her even before Katherine came into the picture.

So, basically, she hurt him for no reason.

Letting out a breathy exhale, Elena rose to her feet and silently made her way out onto the balcony where Stefan was sitting. He was so caught up in his writing that he didn't even realize she was there, causing her to smile just a bit. He was always so concentrated at the task on hand.

Finally, she willed herself to speak. "Hi," she got out. "Are you okay?"

Startled, Stefan jumped and closed his book. He glanced up, recognized her and laughed, closing his eyes for a moment. Elena chuckled a little too. "Hey. Sorry." He briefly brought a hand up to his chest before setting the journal beside him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

She took a seat at the edge of the beach chair and brushed her hair to one shoulder. Her gaze lingered up at the night sky. "I know it bothered you when I answered you'd probably cheat on me with Katherine."

Stefan's expression hardened. "I would never do that to you." His voice was cold and firm, the tone he always used when he was more than serious.

Elena bit her bottom lip shamefully. "I know," she started, finally looking at him. For once, his gaze was not on something distant; his eyes were burning through hers, as if he was willing her to know just how determined he was not to hurt her. And along with that devotion, she recognized the smallest twinge of pain. "I just hate it," she explained. "I hate how she tries so hard to get close to you again. I hate how she feels like she owns you. And I hate how insecure I sound right now because I'm your best friend and it's just weird that I'm pulling the jealous girlfriend card; I mean I just don't know how to act about everything now, and I want you so much, but I'm so confused on how to act around you now when it comes to stuff like this and-"

"I know," Stefan confirmed calmly, cutting her off from her babbling. "This stuff is new to both of us, Lena. And it feels weird because we've been in such a different status for years. But this is what we want. This is what you want, isn't it?" Elena nodded, so Stefan continued, reaching for her hand with his signature soft smile. "Then we'll figure things out as they come along. Okay?"

Elena grinned at him and held his hand a little tighter, scooting closer also so that she could rest her head on his shoulder. "That sounds like a plan," she breathed out contently.

Stefan wrapped his arm around her, the act so natural that it made her shiver. "And about Katherine," he continued, "please don't worry about her. She's got nothing on you. You have one thing that Katherine could never be capable of: compassion and love."

Elena smiled to herself, closing her eyes. How did he do that, make her believe every word without a single doubt that he didn't mean them? Because everything he'd just told her was the undeniable truth.

For the first time, she felt safe and completely cherished, a feeling that only he was able to provide for her.

"You know," Elena said after quite some time. "We almost won the challenge, if it weren't for some of those really ridiculous questions."

"Guess so." He rested his cheek against the top of her head and laughed to himself. "It seems we have different opinions on who would be better in bed."

Elena could feel her cheeks rise in heat and bashfully buried her head in his broad chest. "I didn't know how to answer!" she grumbled, somehow knowing that he would bring this up. She could feel him shake her head, and glanced back up at him. "Guess we'll have to see who was right." Stefan's eyes widened at her words and she quickly added, "Someday." Elena wondered if her face could get any redder.

He nodded, bringing up both hands to tenderly hold her face. "Mmhmm, someday." Leaning forward slowly, he placed a kiss on her forehead that trailed down to her cheek, leaving tingling, heated skin in its wake. Only he could do this to her, make her feel so overwhelmed by the simplest thing, how he made her feel like they were one soul just from a gentle touch of the lips. She could only imagine how it would feel once they really...

She shut off her presumptuous thoughts and acted on impulse, giving Stefan a fierce kiss directly on his lips, which quickly changed the mood that he was setting. She didn't want gentle, not right now, not tonight. That was what they had last night, when they spent every moment smiling and holding each other. Now, in his kiss, she craved passion. Raw passion... because she knew he was more than capable of it. She craved his touch that made her burn in the best of ways.

Stefan returned her kiss with equal fervor, their lips battling at a pace they almost couldn't keep up with. Elena didn't know what had come up with her, but his touch and his lips were like a drug to her, seeping through her veins, intoxicating her, leaving her wanting more. Always wanting more. Almost without even thinking, Elena pulled herself onto his lap just as they allowed the kiss to deepen, tongues mingling and battling. She felt his hands tangle into her hair and gently pull, making her gasp for air.

Elena slid her hands along his perfectly toned torso, briefly pulling away, fearing she'd pass out if she didn't get the necessary oxygen. Stefan's eyes mirrored her own, hooded with desire and passion and the sudden, unintentional heat of the moment. He leaned closer again, this time bringing his kisses to her neck, gently sucking at that one spot that had her seeing stars. She rested against him, never wanting this feeling to end, and her fingers had a mind of their own as they fumbled with the buttons on his shirt.

Almost as soon as she had the shirt off of his shoulders, Stefan froze and stopped kissing her neck. Elena whimpered in protest. "No," he whispered. "Not like this."

With that, Stefan pulled away, making Elena feel more than confused. "What do you mean?" she wondered aloud, eyes dilated and heart thumping.

He shook his head. "Not here, not for the world, Elena." Her eyes flickered with understanding; now she got him. He kept talking, though he was slightly breathless. "When we get home, we're going to do all of this the real way. I'm going to take you on a date, and we're going to be a real couple. We're not turning this into something physical. Not tonight. It'll ruin us. I want this to be more than that. It means more to me than that."

Elena smiled gently at Stefan's words, and somehow, they made her heart sing even more than his bruising kisses. Resting her forehead against his, she placed a soft kiss to his lips. "You're kinda perfect, you know that?"

Stefan grinned, returning her gentle kiss. "Call me old fashioned."

And that was when her cell phone rang. Baffled, Elena reached into her pocket and picked it up, opening the screen. "It's Mia," she explained. "We have to get downstairs right now. The producers are looking for us."

"Why?" Stefan asked.

"I have no clue." They both exchanged nervous glances.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Yay, I finally updated! Sorry it took me almost a week. I was stressed with schoolwork and gave myself a little break because my bday was on thursday :) But I couldn't go a few more days without posting, so I made sure to have this up for you all tonight!<strong>_

_**I hope you liked the chapter! I hope I didn't seem a little rusty, because it feels like I haven't written in forever even though it's only been a few days lol. What did you think of the make out scene? Why do the producers want to see Stefan and Elena? ;)**_

_**The Nearly Wed Game is from The Bachelor Pad. It was another request that I got from a BUNCH of people, so I decided to throw it in there for y'all! **_

_**Please review! You guys know how much every single comment means to me. I read every single one and I really concentrate on using them to make my next chapter the very best it can be. So please let me know what you liked, what you didn't like, etc. Am I writing Stefan and Elena as bf/gf well? Please let me know!  
><strong>_

_**Thanks! Xoxo,**_

_**Sara :D **_


	13. Chapter 13

"Hello Elena, Stefan." Alyssa, one of the producers said coldly and emotionlessly as the couple walked into the tiny room. They greeted her with polite but anxious words, taking a seat in the leather couch directly across from the chair that Alyssa was in.

Elena hesitantly reached out for Stefan's hand, which he held gently but firmly. His simple action seemed to calm her nerves; they hadn't been asked to speak with the producers since they were brought to the airport in the limo. "It's awfully late," Stefan said politely. "Is this urgent?"

"Yes," Alyssa replied sternly, her silicone lips in a firm line. "We need you both to leave the show."

Elena's eyes widened more than they should have, and her posture notably stiffened. She furrowed her brows. "Excuse me?"

Alyssa sighed, "You are disqualified from the show. I'm sorry."

Stefan's grip on Elena's hand tightened, his gaze confusedly fixated on the producer across from them. "Would you care to explain why?"

Crossing her legs, Alyssa let out a deep breath and reached into her bag, mumbling, "I should have listened to Eric." Finally, she pulled out a little leather book with the letter "E" elegantly written on the top corner. "Is this yours?" she asked.

With a furious gasp, Elena glared. "How did you get that?"

Alyssa did not reply, but simply changed the subject. "Is it true that you both came into this competition for money, and that you were not in love at all?" Her voice was polite, but Stefan couldn't help but recognize her slight bitterness.

"We were in love," Stefan corrected levelly. "We just didn't know it."

Elena greatly admired Stefan's words, and his calm attitude. Gently, she caressed the back of his hand with her thumb. "First off, even if someone did show that to you, or however you got my diary, you should NOT have read it! And second, we were -are- best friends. But you see, I've always viewed Stefan as more, and he's always viewed me as more. We just didn't realize that until a few weeks ago," she tried to explain.

This answer did not seem to please Alyssa, for she glared slightly and looked between them. "So you were not in love when you came into this competition? You do realize that you signed a contract about this..."

"It doesn't matter!" Elena snapped furiously. "We are now!"

Alyssa eyed them both again, making them feel like animals in a zoo under her intense stare. "I had a good impression when I first met you two. You surely fooled our viewers too. Congratulations," she hissed, her attitude clear now. "You do realize this just makes the show look bad."

Stefan bit his lip. "No one even has to know. We can keep participating without anyone finding out. Does it really matter what happened when we first came, as long as things are alright now?" he offered.

"There's no way that I can tell if you're lying now," she said in reply. "You broke your contract. I don't know if we can overlook this. Do you really love him, Elena?"

"I do." She nodded; there was absolutely no hesitation. "I'm in love with him."

Alyssa shifted her gaze to Stefan, who was currently frozen in shock, staring up at Elena. She loved him? "Are you in love with Elena, Stefan?"

He jumped and quickly turned his attention back to Alyssa. "I... uh," he trailed off, moving his eyes to the ground. Did he love Elena? Absolutely. Did he want to announce this right in front of Alyssa in a moment like this? "Umm..."

Alyssa's huge lips turned to a scowl. "See? We don't need these kind of games on our show. We're going to politely ask you to leave. And if you are given any interviews, we'd recommend that you don't speak about the reason you were disqualified, for it would just make the show look bad."

Stefan exhaled deeply and shamefully, refusing to look at Elena who was clearly staring at him with a look full of pain. "And what if we do?"

"Then I suppose we'll have to put you in court for breaking your contract. If you two stay silent about it, then you don't have to worry. Just announce that you've broken up."

"What!" they both shouted at the same time.

Alyssa brushed something off of her skirt. "We'd like it if you could leave tonight. The limo is waiting outside."

* * *

><p>Elena wordlessly walked through the hall with Stefan when her gaze shifted to Katherine, who waved with a smirk. She stepped away from him and strutted over to the smug brunette, steps fueled with anger.<p>

"It was you, wasn't it?" Elena demanded.

Bored, Katherine rested against the counter. "I have no idea what you're talking about, 'Lena." She giggled. "Oh, you mean the diary? Yeah... at that party you really should have been careful about who you let into your room. But it's okay, right? You got your beloved book back."

She clenched her fists at her side. "You screwed everything up!"

Katherine gave a mock pout. "Oh no, did I cause a problem in your perfect relationship with my ex boyfriend? I'm truly sorry, dear." Her silky voice was rushing with sarcasm, and Elena was about to walk away, until she got the courage to turn back around.

With a deep breath, Elena slapped Katherine hard across the face. "Bitch," she muttered proudly and walked up the stairs to say goodbye to the friends she had made over the past month.

* * *

><p>Elena packed her bags in angry silence. What was wrong with Stefan? Why didn't he just answer Alyssa's question with a simple yes? Why did he have to get them kicked off of the show; surely Alyssa was willing to give them another chance, wasn't she?<br>But then again, maybe he just didn't love her. Not like she loved him.

For the first time, Elena had admitted it, that she loved Stefan. And he replied by avoiding eye contact and saying something vague and definitely not reassuring. Maybe it was her fault; maybe she said it too soon and it freaked him out.

Or maybe he just didn't love her.

She breathed out, hearing the door to their room open and Stefan's heavy footsteps. Elena turned, grabbing her suitcases and walking in his direction, toward the door.

"Stefan," she started deeply, emotionlessly.

"Your stuff is already in the limo," he said almost solemnly. "I called a hotel."

She nodded and simply strutted past him, out the door and into the hall. So, with a strange ache rising in his chest, Stefan followed.

They rode in the limo, enveloped by awkward silence. Every time Stefan turned to look at Elena, she was staring at something only she could see, and he knew with a pang that he was the cause.

Now, they were settling in at a small hotel room, a dull contrast to the fantastic suite they had previously stayed in on Perfect Match. This place was plain and austere, with a white bed and white walls.

And Elena still hadn't made any eye contact with Stefan since their meeting with Alyssa.

He watched as she roughly opened up her suit case -which he had messily packed for her- and rummaged through it to find some clean clothes to change into. She did this for a few seconds until she just gave up, throwing the shirt in her hands to the ground in frustration.

"Stop taking it out on your stuff," Stefan said. His voice had the smallest tone of teasing, an attempt to lighten the dark mood, but overall it was filled with tension. "You know, I'm right here. You can talk to me."

"And what am I supposed to say, Stefan?" she snapped. "We could still be on that show right now! She was going to give us a second chance."

Stefan clenched his jaw. "So what, we didn't win the money. Did you really expect us to anyway?"

Elena turned to look at him, attempting to calm herself down. "We had a chance, didn't we? You blew it!"

He crossed his arms over his chest and simply stared, shaking his head sadly. "This isn't about the competition, is it?"

Her chest rose and fell with every single furious inhale and exhale. "Of course it is! We were doing so well!" she yelled, taking a step closer to him. "Why couldn't you have just said that you loved me? She would have believed you! Why didn't you just lie, Stefan?"

And there it was. All of the pain and the sorrow in his eyes fading to anger; she knew exactly how to get to him, to make his heart shatter and make his body shake. "You think that would be a lie?" he uttered and moved closer. "Did you ever think... for a second, about what I was feeling in that moment?"

Elena breathed out deeply, their bodies inches apart. She had to glance up in order to meet his blazing green eyes. "You seemed to not have an answer," she whispered.

The mood in the room drastically shifted, to something neither of them could describe. Elena could feel Stefan's breath against her lips, and she wanted to kiss him; she wanted to kiss him more than ever, but she wanted to scream at the same time. Why did he have to be so damn attractive?

But he seemed to have more self control than she did, for the sudden rage in his eyes faded to a fathomless sadness. "You said you loved me... in front of a near stranger," he stated.

She didn't blink, staring back up at him with the same intensity. "And you didn't," she replied.

"I didn't say it," he confirmed. "But that doesn't mean that I don't feel it. Didn't it cross your mind that it wasn't the right moment?"

Elena stared up at him in wonder, until it turned to a slight bitterness. She scoffed. "That's what this is about? Your obsession with preserving our moments?"

And with her nonchalant nudge at his words, Stefan stepped away from her and walked to the window, an attempt to control his returning anger. He clenched the windowpane and Elena just looked at him, frozen in place.

They stayed like this for a few minutes, calming themselves down, until Elena gathered the courage to speak. "Do we really need moments, Stefan?" she wondered aloud. He lifted his head but did not turn. "I love you. Anyone can see that. Do you need some cliche moment to prove that? Isn't it enough just to know?"

Finally, Stefan turned around. So, she kept talking and approached him.

"This is such a dumb fight. I know you're traditional, and that you want to take things slow. I know that you believe that everything should happen the right way. But that's not life, Stefan. That's not how things happen. Tonight, I told you that I loved you. And it doesn't matter how, it doesn't matter why. All that matters is what I said and that I meant it." Her eyes bore through his and he slowly nodded, closing his eyes when she raised her hands and held his face. "And whether or not you feel it too."

"I've just waited so long to be with you like this," he breathed out, closing his eyes. "And I don't want to mess it up. I just want everything to be perfect..."

Laughing gently, Elena caressed his face. "Everything _is_perfect, Stefan. We don't need candles and moonlight to prove that." She moved in slowly and softly pressed her lips to his. "No matter what, when it's you and me, everything's perfect. Okay?"

He smiled. "Alright."

With that, Elena nodded softly and dropped her hands from his face. She casually strolled over to her suit case and grabbed her pajamas, leaving them on the top of the bed to put on after she got ready. He just watched her, and stared as she grabbed a towel from the closet, heading into the bathroom.

"Elena," he got out.

She turned to face him, smiling just a bit. "Yeah?"

He bit his bottom lip, suddenly realizing his hands were shaking. Her chocolate brown eyes were full of gentle detachment -an indication to the aftermath of their fight-, until he finally willed himself to move. Before she could even register it, his lips were against hers, softly but urgently, just the way she liked it...

When he pulled away, it wasn't even an inch, just enough space for him to audibly whisper, "I love you."

Her heart jumped, and she was convinced for the hundredth time that she'd forever belong to him. The simple desperation in his voice mixed with the overwhelming passion was nothing short of incredible. She smiled into the kiss, so much that their teeth clanked together, not that they really minded. Throwing the towel in her hand behind her, she needfully gripped his hair, pressing herself as close to him as possible. She could hear his sharp gasp and moan in response and responded by deepening the kiss, running her tongue along his lower lip until he gained her access. His hands slid around her waist to her back, pressing her even closer.

Stefan was the one to back them up to the bed.

Elena's head spun when she felt her back hit the mattress, and she quickly grabbed the front of his t-shirt to drag him down with her. Hands tangling in her rich, coffee hair, he slid his hands under her to pull her close. Victim to his closeness and his heavenly touch, Elena closed her eyes and dropped her head to one side so that he could shower her neck with kisses. When his hands slid beneath her t-shirt to gently trace circles along the skin of her stomach, her skin spread with the sweetest gooseflesh. "Stefan," she muttered. He lifted his head, placing another kiss on her lips before locking eyes with her. "Are you sure about this? Earlier today you told me that-"

He gazed at her softly. "Tonight, someone told me love isn't about cliches and noteworthy moments. It's about the present. Someone opened my eyes tonight and taught me it's not about places or occasions... it's about two people. Two people who think the world of each other. That's love. This is love."

Elena laughed, slowly raising her fingers to memorize every line on his face. "You're cheesy," she giggled. "But so poetic. I love that about you."

Grinning, Stefan kissed her again. "Wait... Are _you_sure about this?"

She nodded and responded by pulling him in for another searing lip lock, which he eagerly responded to. She helped him lift his shirt over his head and briefly took in the sight of his perfectly sculpted torso; he was so beautiful... and all hers. And when her own shirt was off, and his fingers glided along her bare back, she shivered and kissed him, their connected displaying every ounce of love they had for each other.

They pulled away from this kiss again, eyes locked on one another in a look full of endless love and desire. Without losing precious eye contact, Stefan reached over, turned the lamp off, and pulled her close once again. And they picked up right where they had left off.

It was perfect, flawless... Elena and Stefan at the top of the world. Their world.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Ahhhh Stelena! I really hope this chapter was okay... I had some serious writer's block. I almost gave up in the middle of writing it, so I apologize if it seems a little off or something. What do you think? I know... I'm mad at myself for taking them off the show, but now they get to go home if you want to see it! Haha<strong>_

_**Please let me know what you think! I'm not sure if I should keep going and write about what happens once they get home or if I should just end it here. Let me know what you think!**_

**_Let me know what you loved, what you hated... every single review inspires me so much! :) _**

**_Thank you for reading! Xoxo,_**

**_Sara_**


	14. Chapter 14

With its bright light illuminating the entire room, warm sun shone in through the blinds, creating thin lines of yellow along the foot of the big, white bed. The plain blankets were in a careless pile halfway on the floor and halfway on the edge of the bed. The thin, white sheet, seeming to be the only item completely in tact, was lightly resting atop Stefan and Elena.

She let out a content sigh and just stared at him, unable to hide her smile. Their legs were tangled together, hearts rhythmically beating as one. Elena couldn't look away from Stefan, who was currently still asleep, for he'd never looked more beautiful to her. With his chestnut hair falling onto his forehead and going every direction possible and that subconscious hint of a grin on his lips, he didn't seem to have a single flaw.

Last night was absolutely perfect, any girl's dream come true. Elena could still feel her heart racing, desperately trying to get back to its original, steady pace. But after her first incredible night with Stefan, she was wondering if her heart would ever beat the same again.

Elena had to admit; she'd gone into the night feeling a little nervous. After all, he was her best friend of seven years... But he was wonderful, in every which way. She couldn't even remember how many times he told her she was gorgeous, -she ended up losing count- and in his arms, under his adoring gaze, she definitely believed him. Not only did he tell her she was beautiful; he made her feel beautiful.

Maybe leaving Perfect Match was the best thing that ever happened to them. Now they could simply be, without any distractions.

"You're staring." Stefan's sleepy voice took Elena out of her pleasant thoughts. She dropped her head back onto their shared pillow and blinked slowly, dreamily.

"I'm gazing."

"It's creepy."

She let out a laugh, pretending to be insulted. "It's romantic," she rolled her eyes.

Finally, Stefan turned and opened one eye to glance at her. He chuckled softly, shaking his head before turning up to look at the ceiling. "And I'm the cheesy one," he scoffed.

Elena laughed, cuddling a little closer to him. She placed her head on his, right over his heart, where she heard the steady pulse beneath his smooth skin, though she could have sworn that it picked up a little bit the second she moved in. "Last night was...," she started.

"I know." His voice was so soft, so gentle, so loving. It made her body rush with this strange warmth she'd never felt before; it was odd, but wonderful, a perfect mix of love and companionship. Almost subconsciously, he began to play with the ends of her hair, curling a few strands around his fingers and then letting go.

This was -by far- the best morning of her life.  
>"I don't want to go home," Elena sighed, her foot absently running along Stefan's leg. She turned her attention to his hand that was toying with the ends of her hair, the source of all of his concentration at the current moment. "Ever."<p>

"Why?" Stefan asked, briefly pausing, his voice full of a sudden concern, although the gentleness of the moment had not subsided. As if urging her to answer his question, he pressed his foot against hers until she nudged back.

"Don't get broody," she laughed. "I just don't want to move. And you know, as soon as we get home, it's not gonna be just you and me anymore."

Stefan nodded, letting go of Elena's hair so that he could gently caress her arm. "You don't want to see Caroline and Bonnie, and Jenna?"

She sighed. "No, I do. I just don't want to lose moments like these, you know? Especially since Alyssa said we have to convince everyone that we've broken up..."

Frowning just a bit, Stefan nodded in understanding. Elena let out a slow breath and turned over on her stomach, so she was gazing up at him now. "We won't lose these moments, Lena," he reassured her. "I can promise you that."

Elena exhaled deeply. "Promise?"

Stefan's eyes twinkled as he maneuvered his other arm out from under Elena's waist and extended his pinky, just like they'd always done since they were kids. "Promise. Even if I have to climb into your window at three in the morning."

Giggling, she knotted their pinkies together and pulled him in for a breathtaking kiss.

* * *

><p>Their plane landed in Washington DC that night. It was about a twenty mile drive into Mystic Falls from there, and Caroline and Bonnie were picking them up. As soon as they walked through the airport to claim their bags, they were quite shocked from the reactions they got. Men and women of all ages were staring at them in surprise and excitement. Elena and Stefan looked at each other confusedly, deciding to ignore it, until two girls, who looked to be about sixteen, approached them with nervous excitement.<p>

"Um...," the redhead said, gaping at Stefan as if he was the most gorgeous thing she'd ever laid eyes on, clutching a camera in her hand.

Her friend, a blonde who was grinning widely interrupted. "Oh my god... are you guys Stefan and Elena from Perfect Match?"

Furrowing her brows, Elena nodded. She and Stefan exchanged puzzled glances. People were recognizing them from the show? Was it that popular?

"Can we please get a photo with you?" the redhead asked eagerly when she could form words. "Oh my god... you guys were my favorite!"

"Mine too!" piped the blonde.

Shocked, Stefan and Elena meekly nodded and smiled beside the each girl as they took turns flashing a photo.

"Thanks...," Stefan laughed awkwardly, baffled beyond words.

"Thank you!" It looked as if the blonde girl had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. "You are sooooo cute together."

"Soooooo cute!"

Glancing at Stefan, Elena grinned. "Um, thank you. So I guess you guys watch the show?"  
>"Who doesn't?" she smiled. "Well... uh... thanks again! Oh my god! This made my day!"<p>

The two girls laughed excitedly together, but before they began to walk away, the redhead gazed at Stefan again. "You are so hot!" she complimented. Her blonde friend's eyes widened and she instantly pulled her away and they ran off.

Elena and Stefan blinked. "What the hell...," he muttered.

Elena chuckled just a bit. "Are we that popular?"

"I suppose so," he nodded. They looked at each other with an equal amount of puzzlement until they dropped it and continued to walk to the door.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe that bitch lady kicked you off!" Caroline ranted from the front of the car as she drove down the highway, her perfectly manicured hands gripping the wheel tightly. "And now you guys can't even be a couple! I swear to god, if I were you, Elena, I'd tear those freaking fish lips right off of her face."<p>

Elena smiled, but upon hearing her words, Stefan grew serious. "You can't tell anyone about this. We had a contract that Alyssa was nice enough not to sue us for. But she will if anyone finds out we're still together and that we were forced off."

"Don't worry, Stefan," Bonnie chimed. "Your secret's safe with me... and I'll make sure she doesn't squeal. But what are you guys gonna do about Jenna?"

Elena let out a breath and rested her head on Stefan's shoulder. "I think I'll just go with the story that we broke up but are still friends. I know if I tell her we're still a couple, she'll give me that knowing smile every single time we go into my room just to hang out. And I'd rather avoid that awkward stuff," she joked.

After she finished speaking, Caroline and Bonnie laughed, but Stefan simply moved a little closer to Elena, burying his face into her hair, right at the portal of her ear. "Just to hang out?" he whispered with mock disappointment.

Briefly, Elena closed her eyes as his deep voice and words rung through her ears. "Mmhmm," she got out silently, pulling herself onto his lap to rest her head on his shoulders. "You know, hanging out: a few hugs here, a few kisses there... Maybe if you're lucky I'll hold your hand."

Stefan chuckled, extremely distracted by the feel of her sweet breath against his neck. "That sounds perfect."

"Indeed," Elena agreed, lightly running her fingers along his chest until her hands were on the back of his neck. Lifting her head slightly, she brushed her lips against his, though it quickly evolved into a much more intense lip lock. After all, when didn't their simple kisses fade to something much more passionate?

"Yeah, there's no way you guys are going to fool anybody," Bonnie amusedly announced, making Stefan and Elena pull away from each other, red faced and flustered.

"We seemed to do a good job at fooling people that we were in love when we first went on the show," Elena said.

"Oh please! That shouldn't even be considered fooling! Anyone with eyes could see that you guys were all smitten." Caroline giggled. "I told you, Bon. I told you in seventh freaking grade that there would someday be Stelena. And as usual, I was right!"

Stefan arched a brow. "Stelena?"

Elena smiled at him. "I kinda like it. Stelena... it has a nice ring to it."

Proudly smiling, Caroline nodded. There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes, the purr of the engine filling everyone's ears as Elena and Stefan took in the familiar scenery of Mystic Falls, hands entwined. They passed by Tyler's mansion, which hadn't seemed to change a bit, and Mystic High... until they came to a stop at the Salvatore boarding house.

Elena and Stefan's eyes both widened in surprise.

There had to be at least the entire senior class standing in the front lawn with bright smiles on their faces. Hanging right above the door, in big bold letters, were the words, "Welcome home, Stefan and Elena!"

"You threw a party?" Stefan asked, not sure whether to feel excited or embarrassed. He never did like being the head of attention. He looked around in shock, opening the door.

"Actually, no," Bonnie grinned.

"I did." And out from the crowd stepped a man with jet black hair, and ice blue eyes. Although he never was one to be genuine, he grinned. "Hello, Brother."

Stefan smiled. "Damon."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Yay, they're home! Lol. Haha I'm sorry for the random Damon at the end, but I wanted to put him in 'cause he's the only character I haven't mentioned since about chapter 2- haha! Figured I'd put in a little Stemon, cause hey, when they're nice to each other, I love em' :P Sorry if Damon seems a little OOC here, I'm definitely going to make him more like Damon next chapter. haha!<strong>_

**_I hope you liked this chapter. What do you think will happen now that Stefan and Elena have to see each other secretly? Will they be able to pull it off? _**

**_I'm not too sure about this chapter- I don't think it's my best work, but I got so many flawless reviews and I wanted to post ASAP for y'all :)_**

**_Please let me know what you thought: what you loved, what you hated. You all know how much you inspire me! :D I have a few ideas for this fic... I could probably wrap it up in about three chapters or I could continue to keep going for a while. What would you prefer? _**

**_Thank you! :D_**

**_Xoxo,_**

**_Sara _**


	15. Chapter 15

"So, tell us all about it! Every single detail!" Caroline chattered with a wide smile plastered on her face, giving Elena a small nudge. Everyone was around the big leather couch of the parlor. Stefan was glad the room was huge enough to fit the entire senior class. Caroline and Tyler were sandwiched between him and Elena, and he felt as if she were a thousand miles away from him.

"My god... the house!" Elena started with a chuckle, and the room broke out with small chatter of people agreeing on how gorgeous it was. "Pretty, right?"

Stefan laughed, looking at everyone as he leaned forward. "Imagine being in the fanciest hotel you can imagine..."

"And multiply that by ten!" Elena finished, loving the way Stefan discreetly glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

"Awwwww," Damon said mockingly with his signature smirk. "Look at you two, finishing each other's sentences."

Stefan bit his lip. "Actually, we..."

"Broke up," Elena interrupted. Oops. They did it again. She had to look down and bite her lip to keep from giggling, for it clearly would have blown their cover. Luckily, Stefan spoke instead.

"We decided we were better off as friends." The lie smoothly rolled off of his tongue, though in reality, it seemed to be the exact opposite, for they were better off as a couple than they ever had been any other way. Briefly, they exchanged knowing glances, and simply hoped that no one would notice.

* * *

><p>Stefan stuffed his hands into his sweatshirt pockets and amusedly shook his head. "I can't believe you went to all of this trouble just to throw a party for me." Staring out at the band and his dancing classmates, Stefan was amazed at just how huge this homecoming was.<p>

"Who said I did it for you?" Damon joked with his usual smirk. "Maybe it was an attempt to impress your girlfriend. You know, the 'be polite to your in-laws' rule and all." His ice blue eyes scanned through the crowd, refusing to meet his brother's gaze.

"I told you, Damon. We're not together," he sighed.

Arching a brow, Damon laughed. "Mmmhmm," was all he said for a moment. "They kicked you off because they knew you were faking it, didn't they?"

Stefan's eyes widened in surprise. "How did you know that?" he demanded in a loud whisper, not needing anyone else to hear.

Damon shrugged. "Easy to figure out, considering you fessed up to me before you left in the limo." His face was flat, void of any emotion, and Stefan knew there was something on his mind. There was a long, uncomfortable silence between them until Damon spoke again. "You saw Katherine again."

"Yes, unfortunately," Stefan replied monotonously.

"Did she say anything about me?"

Turning his head, Stefan furrowed his brows. "No. Why would she?"

Damon shook his head, the slightest hint of resentment dimming out his pale eyes. "No reason."

Stefan was taken off guard by his brother's strange attitude, especially since their conversation ended there. So, shaking off his confusion, he stepped into the huge crowd of his dancing classmates, casually socializing with a few of his friends who he ran into. He spent a few minutes catching up with Tyler and Matt, who were proud to say they helped set up the party. They caught him up on the latest couples, not that it really interested him, but it gave them something to talk about.

Elena was on the other side of the yard, giggling with Caroline, Bonnie and a small group of girls. He recognized Sue Carson and Nancy Peterson from French class, but the rest went nameless. He let out a small sigh, wishing more than anything that he could walk right over to them, wrap his arms casually around her from behind, and join in on the conversation. But he restrained himself.

It was only when a slow song came on, and the group broke apart to seek out dancing partners, that Elena glanced up to find Stefan staring at her. She gave them that smile, the one that she had reserved for him and him alone, and discreetly nodded to the corner of the house. When she started walking in that direction, Stefan looked around briefly, finally deciding to follow her.

He kept his gaze on the back of her head, making sure not to lose her in the crowd, until she disappeared around the corner. When she did this, Stefan picked up his pace. He realized she was completely out of sight as soon as he went in the same direction as her. This side of the boarding house was extremely dark, secluded, alluring even. Fog raised all the way up to the trees and the music from the party was being overpowered by chirping cicadas. The Virginia air had a chill to it, so different than California; Stefan couldn't even feel the tips of his fingers. But, oddly, he liked it. He felt at home.

He was suddenly taken out of his thoughts by the hands pulling at the back of his sweatshirt. He gasped, shocked, realizing with a deep breath that he was staring into the welcoming chocolate depths of Elena's eyes. "Damn it, Lena," he breathed. "You scared me."

She giggled at his words. "Sorry." Her voice was just below a whisper as she leaned close to wrap her slender arms around his neck. He gently pressed his freezing forehead against hers, rewarded with her sweet breath tickling his numb lips. "Hey stranger," she teased.

Stefan chuckled, placing the gentlest of kisses to her lips. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." His voice, thick with that horrible and dramatic southern twang he sometimes used, rung through her ears. Elena shook her head, playfully rolling her eyes at his acting skills.

"Definitely... a pleasure." And with that, she grasped the back of his head, knotted her fingers through his hair, and pulled him close. Their lips collided in a fiery combination of desire and desperation, and Elena gasped when her back almost instantly came in contact with the side of the house. It was freezing, but she didn't care; Stefan was warming her up. How did he do that, make every single kiss better and better? She could only imagine how breathless he'd leave her when he pressed his lips to hers tomorrow, in a week, in a month...

She shivered, and it wasn't from the weather.

Nothing felt better than to have her soft body pressed flush against his, to have her hands shamelessly and possessively roaming his own body. Stefan never expected to be in this kind of relationship: one that involved secluded make out sessions, with a perfect mixture of pure, sensual love and raw, eager passion. Those kinds of things were supposed to be reserved for romantic comedies or teen romance books... not reality. But Elena seemed to bring fiction to life, in the best way possible.

Who knew that being in love would feel this spectacular?

He pulled away gently, breathing heavily. They opened their eyes simultaneously, brown eyes meeting forest green. "I love you," he whispered matter-of-factly.

"I love you too." She grinned. Elena's entire face lit up when she smiled; Stefan loved that about her. She was absolutely, undeniably beautiful. Breathless and with swollen lips, she leaned back so her head was resting against the cool bricks, which now seemed extremely soothing to her ignited skin. Stefan took the opportunity to trail his lips along her exposed neck sensually, with feather light kisses. "Mmmm," she moaned quietly. "Who would have ever thought... you and me."

Elena's heavy eyes drifted closed; it was extremely hard to speak, considering the way his kisses left burning flesh in their wake. "We make a good pair," he commented in between kisses. "I like us."

"Me too," she sighed happily. "You know... when we were in sixth grade... and we went to our very first junior high dance..."

Stefan briefly paused. "...we slow danced together for the first time." He laughed, bringing his head back up. He pressed his lips gently to hers. "Our excuse was that we didn't want to be the only people not dancing. So I asked you."

She wove her fingers through his chestnut hair. "And you kept stepping on my feet!" she laughed. "After it was over, I tried to avoid you so that you wouldn't see me blushing, you know?"

Stefan grinned brightly, lovingly. "Really?"

Giggling, Elena nodded. "Really. I couldn't stop smiling."

He couldn't wipe the grin from his face and replied by kissing her, an attempt to show her exactly how much he loved her as snow began to gently fall. But truly, she'd never really know just how much he loved her. It was beyond words, beyond action.

Just as they began to get lost in their entwined lips, they were interrupted by a breathless Caroline, who had clearly been running around looking for them. "Guys! My god! People are leaving! They're wondering what happened to you! They're making up rumors that you went up to Stefan's room."

Elena buried her face in his shoulder. "They're not far off."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "No offense, but you guys really suck at this whole pretending to be a couple thing."

* * *

><p>Stefan pulled his red porsche up in front of Elena's house. "It's so nice being back in my own car," he observed comfortably. Elena smiled; she hadn't seen Stefan this relaxed in a while, and it was nice. Very nice. "I'm glad we're home."<p>

"Me too," she agreed, squeezing his hand. "I guess this is my stop."

Stefan nodded as he opened his car door. He walked around and opened the door for Elena, the perfect gentleman that he always was. "Jenna and Jeremy missed you, I bet."  
>"I can't wait to see them," she told him happily. Stefan walked back to the trunk and handed Elena her suitcase. "Text me once you get home?"<p>

"Okay," he promised, glancing around quickly before giving her a quick peck on the lips. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"'Kay," she responded dreamily, grinning up at him. "Be careful getting home. It's dark and the snow's starting to stick."

"Always am. Goodnight, Elena."

"Night, Stefan." They grinned at each other once more before she started walking to the house, glancing back at him every few feet. Stefan waited until she was safely inside before driving off.

He smiled to himself and turned the radio up. Who would have ever thought things would have turned out so right with him and Elena, all because they got kicked off of that reality show? He thought about this as he cruised down Wickery Bridge, gently tapping his fingers against the steering wheel, singing along to the song on the radio.

"She is love, love, love, love, looooove. She is love; she is all I need," he sung until he caught himself. He instantly pursed his lips, shaking his head, amused at the lovestruck fool he was turning into.

Stefan scoffed at his own good mood as he sped through the streets on the outskirts of Mystic Falls. He winced a bit, turning on the windshield wipers, for the snow was making it nearly impossible for him to see more than ten feet ahead.

And when he went around the sharp corner, he realized the entire road was frozen over. Stefan jumped when he felt the car begin to lose control and spin into the middle of the road.

His eyes widened in panic when he saw another car's speeding headlights quickly approaching the front of his little, 1970s porsche. Clearly, the driver didn't see him until it was too late. Stefan gasped in terror as the SUV fiercely collided with the front of his car.

He felt a painful jolt, and then everything went black.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Ahhhh! And the drama unfolds! What will happen next? What happened to Stefan? And no, he did NOT lose his memory (I already wrote a fic like that xP). Is what happened to him serious, and what will happen when Elena finds out? <strong>_

_**Please review letting me know what you thought of the chapter to find out! Tell me what you loved, what you hated, it all helps me and inspires me to update again ASAP :) Am I still writing coupley Stelena okay? I don't want them to feel too rushed.**_

_**Please comment! Thanks!**_

_**Xoxo,**_

_**Sara :D**_


	16. Chapter 16

"You know, we've been getting fan mail sent to the house," Jenna laughed, shaking her head. "You and Stefan are famous now."

Jeremy, who was sitting at the counter eating out of a bag of chips nodded. "There are already petitions on twitter to get you guys back together. It's kind of funny actually."

Elena's eyes widened. "Really? That's insane."

Jenna nodded. "Mmhmm. Too bad you and Stefan broke up. You guys were cute." The words were casual coming from her aunt's mouth, but they made Elena's heart flutter.

"Really? You think so?" she asked, trying to hide her smile. She discreetly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and glanced down at her phone, expecting to read a simple yet sweet goodnight text from Stefan. But her phone had no new messages. Huh. She furrowed her brows in confusion.

Maybe his phone died, she told herself, swearing she wouldn't turn into one of those obsessive girlfriends. For some reason though, she couldn't shake the uneasiness in her stomach. Perhaps the excitement of the past few weeks was catching up with her.

She chatted with Jeremy and Jenna for a few more minutes, until she announced that she was going to bed. Lugging up the stairs with her big suit case, she let out a sigh of relief once she was finally in her room again.

Nothing had changed; her teddy bear was in the exact same place it had always been, and the photos of her parents on the dresser remained untouched. Smiling to herself, she strutted over to the bed and fell against it.

After a few quiet and serene moments, her phone started to vibrate in her pocket, causing her to grin. It was about time Stefan finally sent her something.

Not even bothering to look at the caller ID, Elena laughed and instantly pressed the answer button. "What took you so long?" she questioned playfully, rolling onto her stomach.

"Elena, it's Damon."

Her body flooded with confusion. "Damon? Why are you..."

He interrupted her without even hearing her question. "It's Stefan. I figured you'd want to know since you're all he ever talks about and he's gonna want to see you when he wakes up." His voice was dripping with sarcasm, but she could that what he was talking about was extremely urgent. Elena felt her stomach drop.

"When he wakes up? What does that..."

"If he's not awake already. I bet it's nothing too bad." She could recognize the self-assurance in Damon's voice, an odd thing in itself, and it gave her chills. Something bad was happening. Something very bad.

"Damon!" she demanded. "Where the hell are you?"

"Driving to the hospital," he answered, voice full of aggravation. She clearly was the last person he wanted to be talking to. "There was an accident."

Then, he hung up. He just hung up on her.

Elena bit back her horrified tears.

* * *

><p>Damon rushed into the Emergency Room, ignoring the confused looks he received from the waiting patients. He rushed to the front desk, immediately demanding, "Where is he?"<p>

The woman, who was typing away on her computer, slowly stopped to glance up at him through her thick glasses. "Name please?"

Damon glared. "Salvatore. Stefan Salvatore. He was in a car crash. Where is he? I'm pretty sure you're the one who called me in the first damn place," he snapped.

The woman's brown eyes instantly dulled at the mention, and it gave Damon a terrible, shuddering feeling. "Visitors are allowed into emergency surgeries."

He clenched his fists. "You're not going to let me see my own- he's in emergency surgery?"

Letting out an exhausted sigh, the woman nodded. "Prepping for surgery as we speak. Why don't I have someone lead you to our other waiting room closer to the OR?" She quickly stood up, gesturing to a younger redheaded nurse with big, sad eyes.

"Don't you need someone's approval before you just cut him open?" he questioned angrily. "Did he agree to this?"

The redheaded girl spoke up, opening the door for Damon. "It was urgent, Sir."

He said nothing else, simply following and glaring as the nurse led him down a few never-ending halls that eventually led to a painfully austere waiting room. Beige chairs pressed against the beige walls, and a beige table sat in the center. "I'll have a doctor speak to you as soon as they can."

Damon nodded furiously. He just wanted answers!

* * *

><p>Elena practically stumbled into the waiting room, Bonnie trailing close behind. She wasn't surprised to see Damon sitting there on his phone. His ice blue eyes were searing and seemed as if they could practically break through his cell as he roughly pressed on the keyboard. "How bad is he?" she instantly asked.<p>

Disregarding her question, Damon continued to type. "What the hell are the risks involved with surgery on internal bleeding?"

Bonnie placed her hands on her hips. "Um, I'm pretty sure there's a more specific name for it than 'surgery on internal bleeding,' Damon. Why?"

Elena was nervously chewing on her lip, tapping her fingers against the sides of her thighs. "Why are you asking?"

"The doctor came in once. Once in an hour! Are surgeries supposed to be this long?" He still did not look up.

"Drop the damn phone!" Elena snapped, surprised when he jumped and shoved it into his pocket. "How bad is he?"

Damon sighed heavily, his black hair falling into his eyes. "I haven't seen him. He's in emergency surgery," he started to explain. He sounded tired. "All I know is they're trying to stop the internal bleeding. His stomach hit the steering wheel or something..."

Crossing her arms over her chest to stop the chills, Elena let out a long, shaky breath. "That doesn't sound too bad. I mean, all they have to do is stop that and then he'll be okay, right?"

Bonnie shuddered. "I drove by the crash on the way here. It looked bad. Really bad. I hope Stefan is gonna be okay..."

* * *

><p>"Keep your eyes and ears on that heart rate monitor, you understand me?" the surgeon demanded to the nurses in the room, along with the other doctors. "It's too slow." Everyone turned their attention to the screen for a brief second, watching as every small line appeared about two inches apart. "Nurse Lydman, did you say he was in a head-on car collision?"<p>

"Yes, Doctor Wilman. The other car was speeding and he flew forward. His head hit the windshield, and his abdomen came in rough contact with the steering wheel."

"Was he conscious when the paramedics arrived?" she asked, fully concentrated on the task at hand, which was checking his vitals. Before she worried about anything, she needed to make sure there was no fatal brain damage.

"Yes, doctor," the nurse confirmed again. "He was conscious but unresponsive. According to paramedics, his pupils would not change under light and he could not form a coherent reply to any of their questions."

"We need a blood transfusion, stat!" the main surgeon ordered to a different doctor, turning her attention back to the heart monitor. "Okay, change of priority. It's imperative that we stop the bleeding inside his abdomen before anything... If we don't, he'll give out."

Everyone looked up and exchanged intense glances. The stress and tension in this room was thick, and Stefan's slowing heart rate was only intensifying everyones' nerves. The doctors worked aside the main surgeon to quickly try and make the incision.

That was when the heart monitor stopped beeping.

Every single person froze, the sound of one, solid note filling the operating room. On the screen was one, solid, unmoving line.

* * *

><p>Elena ran her hands tiredly through her hair, glancing at the clock. It was almost midnight, and she wasn't tired at all. Her heart was pounding, and the worst feeling was rushing through her veins.<p>

What kind of state was Stefan in?

How bad were his injuries?

Why was it taking them so long?

She was so thankful that Bonnie was there too, for she was the only voice of hope at the moment. "It's better if it takes them a while," she tried. "It means they're spending more time to help him."

Elena wanted to believe Bonnie so badly, but she just couldn't bring herself to. Not when Damon was on the other end of the room with his face in his hands.

Where would Damon be without Stefan? He really was the only person he had. What would become of Damon if something terrible ended up happening to Stefan?

Her boyfriend and best friend was at risk tonight, but for Damon... it was his brother, his own blood.  
>"Damon," she said gently. "He's going to be okay."<p>

He looked up. "I know he will." And for the very first time, she saw the very first genuine glimmer in his usually cold eyes.

Just then, Dr. Wilman, looking tired walked into the waiting room. "You must be friends," she gestured to Elena and Bonnie with a slight smile before turning her attention to Damon. "Hello Mr. Salvatore."

Damon stood up and shook her hand. Elena examined the surgeon's face, trying to read it. "Is Stefan okay?" she asked nervously, her pulse beginning to rush.

Dr. Wilman glanced at Elena. "He was in bad shape when he arrived in the Emergency Room. Internal bleeding, a terrible head injury..."

Biting her lip, Bonnie spoke up. "But is he okay?"

Finally, the first glimmer of emotion showed in Dr. Wilman's blue eyes. She smiled gently, proudly. "It's a miracle." She recognized the puzzlement in their eyes and quickly explained, "Mid-surgery, his heart gave out. Considering just how bad the damage was, we didn't think we'd be able to revive him."

Elena's eyes went wide; she could feel her entire heart drop into her stomach. "He... died?" The room around her started to spin and she had to clutch onto Bonnie.

Dr. Wilman rapidly shook her head. "Technically. But as of right now, his heart is beating again and he is very much alive. We were able to defibrillate him... or as it's commonly known, we got his heart beating again with electric paddles. It shouldn't have worked; it's incredible that it did."

Damon opened his mouth to speak, but Elena interrupted. "Can I see him?" The words escaped her mouth in a sound that oddly resembled a sob. Her eyes bore into the doctor's, and Dr. Wilman nodded and gestured to a room a few yards down in the ICU.

"He's not awake," she warned.

Elena didn't care.

Her converse squeaked against the tile floors as she rushed to find the room the doctor had pointed her to. She found it quickly, though she couldn't completely bring herself to step inside. What would she see once she walked past that curtain? Would she see Stefan hooked up to an oxygen mask with wires tangling with his body? Would she simply see him lying there next to a flatlined heart monitor?

Elena hated it, but she had to see him. So, shakily, she took a gradual step into the room. The very first thing she noticed was the heart monitor placed by his bedside, beating every second steadily and comfortably. And then, her eyes fell on his face, his handsome, sleeping face that had been marked up with several scratches from the crash. There were no oxygen masks, no robotic wires helping pump blood through his veins. It was simply... Stefan.

She could feel the backs of her eyes beginning to burn. When she remembered how to move, Elena approached him and took a seat on the edge of his bed. Careful not to disturb him or the IV attached to his arm, she slowly lifted her hand, ever so gently bringing it to his scratched up -but beautiful nevertheless- face. "Hi," she whispered.

His skin was smooth under her fingertips, warm. He died tonight. Stefan Salvatore, the boy she'd grown up with, the man she'd grown to love... simply gave out. But he was revived.

What if the doctors couldn't have saved him?

Would she be touching a cold face instead?

"You're okay," she whispered. "Thank you for coming back." Her chocolate eyes, now brimming with tears, fell on his sleeping face. "Thank you for not leaving." Her fingers ran down Stefan's neck to his chest; his heart was pumping, a reminder that he was here, that he was indeed alive. "Thank you... Thank you, God, for saving him."

Now, the tears were streaming down her face. If she'd lost Stefan, the only person who'd made her completely happy, her world would be over... he wasn't just a boyfriend. He was her _best friend_; her best friend who just held her in the summer before Junior year when her parents died. Her best friend who told her she'd get through it, and she did... because he helped her pull through. Her best friend who was her other half.

Her best friend who she loved dearly, and to the depths of her soul.

"I love you, Stefan," Elena told him, although he couldn't hear her. "And I'm gonna be here when you wake up. I promise."

She lovingly brushed a strand of hair off of his forehead. "I'm going to be here for you. No matter what."

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Ahhh, ok I don't really like this chapter. I'm not good at intense drama stuff LOL, especially when Stefan's unconscious for the whole thing! I'm sorry for lack of detail; I hope it was okay... I know it's not up to par, but I really wanted to update.<strong>_

**_Next chapter, Stefan will be waking up! (Cause I can't go another chapter without my Stefan lol) Will he be okay? And how will Elena deal with the fact that she came so close to losing him? Review to find out :P_**

**_Please leave a comment, letting me know what you loved, what you hated, and what you'd like to see more of. Thanks! _**

**_Xoxo_**

**_Sara_**


	17. Chapter 17

Elena woke with a jolt, surrounded by nothing but darkness. She must have fallen asleep while keeping Stefan company. Her head, which had previously been pressed against the sheets, began to throb with an upcoming migraine. What time was it anyway?

Letting out a heavy sigh, she reached over to place her hand in Stefan's. When she did this though, the action chilled her to the bone. His fingers were ice cold. She frowned, quickly releasing his hand and heading into the hallway to find a nurse.

But no one was in the hallway. "Hello?" she asked. Her voice echoed. "Anyone here?"  
>No response.<p>

She exhaled in aggravation, rolling her eyes and heading back into the room. Elena slowly flipped on the light in hopes of finding a set of blankets in the closet. Luckily, she came across a white, linen sheet past the door and quickly rushed to cover Stefan up. It was kind of ridiculous, how every little thing seemed to worry her when it came to him; she had to admit, after the accident, she'd been scared out of her wits.

Elena slowly covered Stefan with the sheet, her eyes scanning over his body as she did so, a tiny gesture that allowed her to watch out for any new bruises or signs of bleeding. But when her gaze landed on his face, her heart lurched.

His colorless eyes were open. Not moving, or blinking; just... open. And empty.

And that was when she turned around and noticed the straight line on the heart monitor.

Elena let out a blood curdling scream.

.

.

.

"Lena!" Bonnie was frantically shaking her shoulders.

She gasped, jumping in the chair she was sitting in, desperately looking around. "Stefan!"

Bonnie frowned. "He's okay, Elena... You were just having a bad dream. He's okay, I promise..."

Quickly catching her bearings, Elena's gaze fell on the sleeping Stefan across from her in the ICU room. His chest was barely rising and falling with every intake and exhale of breath, but rising and falling nevertheless. She let out a sigh of relief. "What if he doesn't wake up, Bonnie?"

"He will. You heard what the doctor said."

She clenched her fists. "It's been three days."

Sighing, Bonnie placed her hand on Elena's shoulder, staring down at her friend solemnly. "Let's get you home, okay? We can come back later. You haven't been out of here in over 24 hours."

She reluctantly tore her eyes off of Stefan. "I... What if something happens while we're gone?"

Bonnie pulled Elena up. "Then the nurses will take care of it. Come on. Damon's still here... if Stefan wakes up, he won't be alone."

Finally, Elena agreed. After all, Damon wasn't going anywhere, that was for sure. He hadn't even left the hospital once in the past three days, surviving off of the small duffel bag that Mr. Saltzman had dropped off.

She walked past him on the way out, but didn't bother speaking to him. Damon hadn't really been in the friendliest of moods for the past few days; Elena figured that he got confused, considering he was so bent on proving to everyone that he didn't care about anyone but himself. But yet, there he was, eagerly waiting for the moment to arrive when his little brother would finally open his eyes again.  
>Elena was shocked once they finally got outside. Only expecting to see cars and valets in front of the lobby, she was quite surprised to find an entire crowd in front of the doors. There were men holding flash cameras, women with microphones, and people frantically scribbling onto notebooks as she walked outside. There was an endless echo of, "Elena, Elena, Elena!" as she tried to make it to her car.<br>"Elena, is it true that this was an attempted suicide?"

"Elena, Elena, over here!"

"Elena, is it true that Stefan was drunk when he got into this accident?"

"Miss Gilbert! Elena! Why are you spending so much time pining over your ex boyfriend?"

"Because he's my damn friend!" she snapped, sending glares at all of the reporters.

Bonnie and Elena rushed to the car, quickly slamming the doors. "Get a life!" Bonnie shouted furiously before speeding off. Elena buried her face in her hands, letting out an exhausted sigh.

Bonnie glanced over at her and sighed a bit. "I know... it sucks. But, you know, it's not entirely bad, the publicity. 'Thinking of Stefan' was a trending topic on twitter last night, and I've been watching Perfect Match. Everyone's pretty shaken up. Katherine even looked genuinely worried. Mia cried when they told her the news in the interview... she actually cried!"

Elena grinned just a bit, glancing out at the road. It was nice to know that some people cared, although it seemed the paparazzi surely didn't. "Maybe I should give Mia a call sometime," she wondered aloud.

Bonnie smiled softly. "Alright," she said after a brief pause. "Let's stop at your house, grab some more clothes... and then we'll head right back to the hospital. I think Caroline, Tyler and Matt want to stop by tonight too."

"Sounds like a plan," Elena said.

* * *

><p>Beep. Beep. Beep...<p>

What on earth was that annoying noise?  
>Every single thought, every single feeling felt as if it was weighted down with a huge rock. As soon as he thought of one thing, it faded as soon as it came to him. He couldn't concentrate on anything, didn't want to. He'd happily lie here in this serene state of nothingness for the rest of his life.<p>

But that relentless beeping wouldn't stop; it bothered him.

He tried to open his eyes, but they felt so heavy.

And then, he started to hear more. Voices... words and sentences that he was too tired to register. "He's waking up," someone said in the distance. "Get a nurse!"

He tried to open his eyes again; this time his eyelids fluttered a little. "Stef," the voice in the distance said. Okay, one more time. He tried again. Barely, his eyes opened. With hazy vision, he could make out the blurred figure of a man next to his bedside and he tried to blink to clear his vision, but with every single close, he wanted to fall back asleep.

He was really tired.

"Stay with us, honey," a woman who he didn't recognize demanded. His head tiredly lolled to the side as he tried to figure out who the man next to him was, the one with the dark hair and pale blue eyes. Stefan looked at him, but almost through him.

"Welcome back to the real world, brother," he laughed, though it came off as a huge sigh of relief. And then Stefan recognized him.

"D'mon," he muttered.

Damon smirked and nodded, though Stefan was forced to look away when the nurse turned his head to check his vitals, flashing a little light right into his eyes, causing him to wince.

"Does everything look okay?" Damon asked.

"Seems so," she answered pleasantly. "We'll have to see if he needs physical therapy. But otherwise, there seems to be no harmful damage."

Damon arched a brow. "Physical therapy?"

Nodding, the nurse started to explain. "Sometimes, with head injuries like this, there tends to be a lack of response between the brain and the muscles in the hands. It takes work and frustration, but it's nothing to worry about."

Stefan seemed to be slowly getting out of his dazed state of mind, groaning every few seconds as he slightly shifted in the bed. He tried moving his arm down over his stomach, but the nurse grabbed it before he could go near the stitches. "Don't even think about it, hun," she warned. "You were in a bad car accident."

That was when Elena and Bonnie arrived back at the hospital.

As soon as the elevator door opened, Elena's gaze fell on Stefan's room, and her heart dropped. There were so many people in there; had something gone wrong?

Gasping, she rushed in, only to look at the one thing she'd been desperate to see since the accident happened.

Stefan's eyes.

The widest of smiles crept up on her lips as she ran to his side. "Stefan!" she breathed, her eyes frantically scanning over his face. His eyes, hazy but full of life nevertheless, were brightly green, and it had felt like an eternity since she'd seen them.

"Lena...," he said slowly, a drunken, distant grin on his face. She laughed, unable to contain her excitement. He was okay, maybe a little drugged and out of it, but okay.

"My god!" she hardly got out. "Do you have any idea how much you scared me?"

Stefan let out a quiet breath. "I'm... glad you're here."

He dozed off again.

* * *

><p>Stefan tried to bite back his groan as he shifted in the tiny hospital bed. Every single movement, no matter how small, seemed to make his stomach twist in excruciating pain. He hated it. And his chest ached... along with his head.<p>

He really did feel like he'd been run over by a truck. But then again, in a way, he had been.

The nurse had given him a heavy dose of morphine a few hours ago, but it was beginning to wear off. For the first time in the whole day, he was actually able to form a solid thought. Unfortunately though, he didn't think he'd be getting any more sleep.

Rolling over to glance at the clock, Stefan groaned at the painful jolt in his stomach, an ache so sharp that he had to grip the pillow tightly and bite his bottom lip.

"Stefan?"

Elena's voice surprised him, and after a long pause he decided to respond. "Yes?"

"Are you alright?" she asked hesitantly. Stefan mentally cursed himself; of course he would've accidentally woken her up! "It's okay... I wasn't sleeping anyways," she said after noticing his lack of reply.

Stefan laughed to himself; she always could read his mind. "Just in a little pain," he complained, slowly forcing himself onto his back again, keeping his eyes closed and breathing heavy to subside the agony. It didn't work too well. "Do you know what time it is?"

"A little after three am." He could hear Elena get up from the chair she'd been in and step closer to him. "Scoot over a little," she whispered, and Stefan followed her order. When he moved over enough, she lifted the sheets and crawled in with him. He grinned at this; her simple action seemed to momentarily distract him from the pain. "Where's the button for more pain medicine?" she questioned once she was settled in beside him.

"Dangling off of your side," he replied sadly. Elena nodded, reaching over until she found the little handle with the button on the top. Slowly, she pressed the button, watching as the IV began to slowly drip. "I tried to grab it, but my fingers... they won't work."

"They will," she promised gently, tangling her legs with his. "You just need some practice. The nurse said you need to start going to physical therapy."

Stefan rested his cheek on the top of her head, and she closed her eyes, letting out a shaky breath. There had been a part of her that feared she'd never feel his arms around her again. "I'm so sorry," he muttered brokenly, the sound making Elena's heart break a little bit. "I didn't mean to scare you. I should've driven more carefully..."

"Hey," she interrupted. "It's not your fault, Stefan. It just... I kind of freaked out a little bit. Your heart stopped; you died. And it just got me thinking, you know, about everything we've been through, everything you've helped me through. When my parents died, you were the only person who I was able to lean on. I mean, I've grown up with you. Losing you... it'd be like losing another family member. And if you were gone, who'd be there to hold me up this time? I'll tell you: no one. Because, I know it's crazy, but you're my rock. And you make me happy. I'll never be ready to let go of that." She hated how her tears fell onto his shoulder, hated how loud her sobs were against his skin. But oh, how she loved the way he pulled her closer.

"Shhh," he uttered, right into the portal of her ear. "Shhh, Baby, I'm not going anywhere. I promise. I'm still here..."

Elena couldn't help but find it just a little ironic how he was the one in pain yet she was the one who was being comforted. And the way he whispered to her, the way he ever so subtly called her 'baby' without coming off as cheesy, seemed to calm her nerves. Yes, he was here with her. He was definitely there.

"I love you," he soothed. "If I could hold your hand right now, I would."

Elena chuckled at that, glancing up at him playfully. "Love you too," she agreed, reaching over his chest -careful to avoid the gauze over his stomach- to entwine her hand with his. His fingers twitched just the slightest and he groaned frustratedly, but she took that as a good sign. "You feeling any better?"

She could feel him smile against her forehead. "Mmmhmm."

Her thumb barely grazed against the back of his palm. "You know, if someone came in right now and saw me in here with you, I'd get in lots of trouble," she teased, though it was clear from the relaxation in her voice that she wasn't planning on going anywhere.

Stefan watched through half closed lids lids as her hand softly caressed his own. "That's... that's okay though." His voice was heavy with drowsiness and she quickly realized that the morphine was kicking in.

"Am I losing you?" Elena laughed, tilting her head up to look at him.

"Mmm... just a lil' bit," he drawled.

She giggled lightly, amused at how quickly the pain medicine had affected him. "Wait. Before you pass out on me..." With a touch so gentle that it forced him to oblige, she turned his head towards her own and leaned up, placing a soft, slow kiss to his lips. "Goodnight, Mr. Salvatore."

Stefan blinked, though his eyes remained closed a second longer than usual and she knew he was falling asleep. But before he did so, he made sure to murmur, "Stay here?"

And so she did.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Of course I had to include some Stelena fluff in there ;) aahaha yayyyy Stefan is awake! I hope you liked the chapter! :D I'm leaving for vacation on Tuesday- I'm going to try and write on the plane but other than that, I don't think I'll be able to update for about a week. I'll definitely try and have a chapter up Tuesday night though if you want it :)<strong>_

_**Anyways, what did you think of the update? Was the Stelena hospital scene okay? I still want to make sure that you guys are enjoying SE, since that's obviously what this fic is mainly about! Please leave a review letting me know what you loved, what you hated, and what you want to see more of!**_

**_Thanks! _**

**_Xoxo,_**

**_Sara :D_**


	18. Chapter 18

"Alright, Stefan. I'm going to let go of your hand now. All that I want you to do is continue to clutch the pen without my help. Okay?" Marie, the physical therapist, eyed Stefan anxiously. She was clearly pleased when his green eyes flared with devotion and he nodded, and Damon nodded confidently from the hall. "Concentrate."

Marie tucked her thick, white hair behind her ear with her left hand, and gradually released Stefan's with her right. Almost smiling, Damon watched hopefully as he held the pen tightly, so much that his knuckles turned white.

"Come on, baby bro." His lips curled up. Good. Maybe his brother was more like him than he thought; he was a Salvatore after all, and Salvatores never gave up easily. At this point, Stefan had been in the hospital for about a week -in physical therapy for about four days- so that they could keep a close watch on his heart rate.

"Fantastic," Marie said. "Now, very slowly... I want you to let go. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yes," Stefan answered hesitantly, his brows furrowed in concentration. The little gold pen in his fist stood up straight and Damon nervously waited to see if he would be able to let go. Letting out a relieved breath, he smirked when he saw his little brother's hand gradually letting go. Millimeter by little millimeter, Stefan had complete control of what his hand was doing.

But then, just when the pen was ready to completely drop to the table under his control, Stefan's fingers twitched and it landed on the ground with a deafeningly silent clink. Damon's mouth fell into a straight line. He watched as his brother had what seemed like the seventh mini-breakdown of the session, which mainly consisted of Stefan hitting the table with his left fist and cursing under his breath.  
>Damon sighed and his gaze briefly locked on Marie's. Giving a quick consoling grin to him, she nodded and looked back to Stefan. "That was good, Stefan. There's no need to beat yourself up," she promised warmly. "Your hand will be working again in no time. I think that's enough for today. Great work today, son. You made great progress."<p>

Stefan kept his gaze down on the floor where his pen had dropped. "Not enough, clearly," he answered seriously, and Damon knew that tone, that familiar, annoying tone that only signified one thing: his Stefan was being way too hard on himself- as usual.

"Hey, kiddo," Marie cooed, placing a hand on Stefan's tense shoulder. "You can't fix everything in one day. It takes time. You're doing great. Now give yourself a break... You deserve it. I'll see you Thursday, a'ight?"

Stefan smiled just a bit; Marie reminded him of the cool grandma in those Disney Channel movies he watched when he was a kid. "Okay."

As soon as Stefan pushed against the arms of the chair to stand up, Damon -almost on instinct at this point- rushed over to give him a hand. "What the hell happened to your wheel chair?" he asked when Stefan winced and tried to clutch his stomach.

"I don't need it."

Damon rolled his eyes. "You don't need it? Then why are you over here moaning like a dog that just got hit by a car just because you're standing up? Oh yeah! Because you did get hit by a car and you're too damn stubborn to admit you need any help!"

Stefan shot him a glare. "I did not get hit by a car."

"Just about," he quipped back. "Okay, broody, let's just get you to the room in one piece."

Saying nothing else, the youngest Salvatore agreed and leaned against his older brother for support. Almost the second he collapsed on his thin hospital bed, Stefan reached to unbutton his hospital gown, trailing his fingers limply around the corner of the medical tape on his torso. He let out a groan of aggravation as he stared down at the white gauze over his burning stomach; he knew he was healing from surgery still, but in a way, he felt as if he was still being cut open.

And the tape itched like hell.

"Look at you! Using your fingers!" Damon's voice was over-dramatic but he did seem genuinely pleased. Stefan wondered what it would feel like when things went back to normal and Damon went right back to hating him. He'd been surprisingly nice lately; well, as nice as Damon could get. There were moments when Stefan enjoyed the feel of having a brother -like when he gave him advice before leaving for Perfect Match- but most of the time, there was a barrier between them that Stefan didn't understand that seemed to have started up about a year ago.

He didn't understand why Damon was so cold to him half the time.

But right now, he would enjoy simply having his brother back. Because, honestly, he missed it.

"They're letting you go home today," Damon blurted out, and Stefan's eyes instantly popped out widely, excitedly.

"What!" Stefan exclaimed, the biggest grin he'd had in a while appearing on his face. Damon realized then just how miserable Stefan had been in the past week.

"Yup," he confirmed. "I just have to sign those papers for you -since you can't sign anything right now- and you'll be good to go."

"Thank god!" Stefan laughed; he actually laughed. Damon almost had to bite his lip to keep from smiling.

That second, Elena appeared through the hallway, greeting every doctor and nurse as she walked by. She knew everyone name-for-name at this point. When she got to the door of the room, her gaze fell on Stefan and she gasped. "Oh my god."

"What?" Stefan asked curiously.

Awestruck, she giggled. "You're smiling! You're laughing!"

Damon shook his head. "Told ya. Broody." He crossed his leather clad arms over his chest. "Your Steffy-boo is getting out of the hospital today."

Elena's face lit up and she smiled warmly and lovingly at Stefan. "A: That's great!" She then turned her attention to Damon. "And B: he's not my Steffy-boo."

Damon simply eyed them skeptically. It seemed they weren't convincing him.

"Don't listen to him, Elena," Stefan said. "Nobody listens to him anyways."

"I reject that statement!" Damon quipped. "Everybody loves me. Ladies love me. She loved me."

At those words, Stefan and Elena raised a brow. "Who's 'she'?" they asked simultaneously.

Just as if it had never left, Damon's cold facade quickly returned as he glared icy cold daggers at his brother. "Right," was all he said before changing the subject. "I'm going to go sign those papers. Elena, you mind taking him home for me? I have to take Ric to some town event thing. Day drinker he is, ya know. Ric."

She slowly and confusedly nodded. "Okay...?"

Then he walked out.

* * *

><p>"You okay?" Elena questioned nervously once she settled Stefan on his bed at the boardinghouse. Honestly, he looked as if he'd never been in there before; he clutched the sheets as best as he could, breathing in the scent of old books and journals. She chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes?"<p>

"Mmhmm," he sighed out. Chuckling, Elena paid attention to every little look on his scratched up face, from the way he took in everything without moving his gaze from the bookshelf, to the comforted half smile that peacefully rested on his lips. "I was so miserable there."

Tilting her head, Elena watched him curiously. "You heard what the nurse said. Keep the bandages on almost 24/7 or you'll end up right back there. We don't want you getting an infection."

He nodded. "Deal."

Smiling softly, Elena rose up from the chair she was sitting in and moved to his side. Already, he was dressed in his casual clothes: a faded Beatles shirt he bought at hot topic and black sweat pants. So gentle that he could hardly feel it, she brushed her fingers along the side of his arm. "Just let me know if you need any pain pills, okay? I can fill your prescription." Her gaze intently scanned over his body for any more bruises, something she did a lot lately. "I'm your own personal nurse till you get better."

Stefan glanced at her from the corner of his eye, a sly grin forming on his face. "Is that so, Nurse Elena? And what would you recommend for your poor, sick patient over here?"

Her eyes lit up when she realized exactly what he was doing, and she had to hide her schoolgirl grin and blush. Gripping his far cheek, she leaned close and whispered right into his ear, "I may have to assist you in a nice, warm shower. You know how dangerous they can get..."

Stefan blinked slowly through half-closed lids. "Of course."

Elena giggled. "I missed you, Stefan."

With that, she stood up from the bed and disappeared behind the bathroom door. As soon as he heard the water running, Stefan rose to his feet, momentarily forgetting about the pain in his stomach.  
>He was only concentrated on that racing feeling in his chest she always gave him.<p>

Within minutes, they were both beneath the warm, steamy spray of the water, and Elena could pay attention to nothing but the deep gash on the back of Stefan's neck. Hesitantly, she touched it and heard him gasp in response. She recoiled. "Does it hurt?"

"A little," he confessed. "Then again, everything hurts, so..."

Her heart broke a little at those words. "At least you're okay," she muttered, but she knew for a fact that he could hear her. "You have no idea how fortunate I feel just because I'm hearing your voice." The words shook as they escaped her mouth and she slowly rested her head right between his shoulder blades. She took in a deep breath, inhaling him, everything about him. He still smelled like the hospital, but she didn't care; it was a scent she'd grown quite accustomed to. Elena pressed her lips against his skin and just stayed there for a moment, letting time around them freeze. When she pulled away, she noticed that Stefan was tightly clutching the bar on the side of the shower for balance. She smiled to herself... he could hold things again.

He was going to be okay.

Elena reached up and grabbed the bottle full of his body wash. As soon as she squeezed a little bit into her hand, the heady and masculine scent of all things Stefan overwhelmed her senses. Chuckling to herself, she began to run her soapy hands along his back, realizing just how thin he'd gotten. And her grin faded.

When he turned around to face her, Elena faked a smile, but as usual, he saw right through her, gazing at her consolingly with those beautiful green-blue eyes of his. "I'm going to be alright, baby. I'm okay."

And her grin returned. "You started calling me baby," she noted. "I like it. It's very couply."

Stefan looked genuinely surprised. "I have? I didn't even notice." He chuckled and leaned forward to kiss her gently, and Elena instantly returned it. She loved him so much, just as he loved her.

When he pulled away, Stefan used his free hand to reach down and grab her own, concentrating intensely. He wanted to tangle their hands together again, wanted to remember exactly how it felt to have her fingers fitting perfectly in the spaces between his. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't do it and only ended up fumbling and twitching. Her stomach lurched. Biting her lip, Elena looked up at his broken face.

"It's okay," she whispered.

He closed his eyes and dropped his hand to his side. She wished that he could open them again so she could read him, but she knew what was running through his mind anyways.

"Why can't I do anything?" he said frustratedly, more to himself than to Elena.

"Stefan, you're doing really well." Her voice was reassuring, but Stefan simply opened his eyes. He didn't really see her though.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I'm so sorry."

* * *

><p>A few days passed, and everything was back to normal. Elena wasn't too affected by Stefan's moment in the shower; in fact she'd almost forgotten about it. He had a lot of those lately, not that he could control it. The doctors had said that mood swings would come with the head injury, and for Stefan, whenever he got frustrated with himself, it brought some sort of breakdown. This recovery would not be easy, she knew this much.<p>

Now, she was sitting around a table at Mystic Grill with Caroline and Bonnie. "So, Lena, what's the deal with Stefan? Is he gonna be alright?" Caroline asked while taking a bite of her salad.

"Yeah, he's uh, he's okay," she replied with a forced smile.

Bonnie paused. "You don't sound too convinced."

Elena suddenly became very interested in the bread she was picking at. "I don't know," she confessed. "I think he's gonna be okay. I mean, when I'm with him, he's fine. More than fine. And it makes me really happy, because I think everything is going to be alright. But it's when he thinks I'm not looking that it bothers me. He just gets this look, this miserable look."

"That won't last," Caroline added in. "Everyone feels like that after surgery. You can't get up and do anything! It's hell. Remember when I got my tonsils out in junior high? My god! I hated it! My mom wouldn't let me even sit up!"

Laughing, Elena nodded. "Was that when you snuck out the window to go to the movies with us?"

"Mmhmm!" she announced proudly. Bonnie just rolled her eyes and started chipping off the pink nail polish that was halfway off of her long nails.

"That's not something to be proud of, Care!" she smiled. "But seriously, Lena. He's got to be getting better. Maybe you should just, I dunno, talk to him. Have you tried that?"

"Uh, no."

"You know!" Caroline blurted, waving her fork in the air. "If he doesn't want to talk, don't sweat it. You can get guys to talk -or not talk- about anything. You just have to get them."

Bonnie arched a brow. She knew exactly where this was going. "Are you implying that Elena should seduce her post-surgery, post-near-death boyfriend?"

"Yeah, I don't think so," Elena laughed with a dismissive shake of the head.

"Works every time, baby," Caroline added when they started to laugh at her. "Makes 'em happy. But then again, you don't wanna make his heart stop." She smirked amusedly.

Scoffing, Elena said nothing in response. Suddenly, her cell phone rang with an email alert and she instantly glared at it, expecting to be another radio show begging for an interview. Instead, though, it was from ABC. "Huh," she mumbled when she opened it.

"Who is it?" both of her friends asked at the same time.

Elena bit her lip. "Perfect Match ended. It ended? They want Stefan and me to fly into California for the live Perfect Match 'Stars Tell All' episode. You know, like they have on the bachelor?"

"Oh yeah," Bonnie agreed. "Didn't Janie and Jem win?"

"Yup!"

"Aw," Elena grinned. "I'm happy for them. But, uh... you know what! I'm going. It's time to clear up all of these rumors that have been spreading through the media."

"You go girl!" Caroline giggled. "Now go seduce your man and tell him you're goin' back to Cali!"  
>For the billionth time, Elena rolled her eyes.<p>

* * *

><p>The yellow moon was shining outside of his window.<p>

Elena was taping newly folded gauze against Stefan's stomach, just like the nurses in the hospital. It was the least she could do for him; every little favor she could complete to help him out made her feel useful to him. Watching from the corner of his eye, Stefan laughed to himself.

"What?" she demanded playfully, laughing along for no apparent reason.

"Nurse Elena," he teased, shaking his head. "Are you sure you know how to do that?" He arched a brow, making Elena mockingly glare, as if he'd insulted her.

"I've been watching them do this for a week, Stefan," she explained with a smile. "I know what I'm doing."

"You sure? I mean, I don't even think I need the bandages anymore. It stopped hurting, so clearly it's healed."

"Mhmmm," Elena eyed him suspiciously. "I'm just doing what I'm supposed to. You're gonna be a new man when I'm done taking care of you! Pinky swear!" She jokingly raised her pinky to him.

Stefan's smile grew a little more serious. "Can't."

When she finished bandaging him up, Elena let out a long sigh and rested on the other pillow, staring over at him. "Hey," she started, beginning to caress the side of his face. "Don't get down over this. Your left hand is working well! You'll get your other hand to work again. I promise. And I..." Suddenly, her mind flickered with a daring idea that sent a wave of warmth rushing through her body. Caroline's seemingly harmless words spun through her mind for the first time since she'd last said them: seduce him. She bit her bottom lip, moving closer to Stefan, strategically placing her leg between his. "And I'm going to help you."

He turned to stare at her. "Really? How so?"

Elena had no idea what had come over her, but at the moment, this idea Caroline had given her... it sounded so tantalizing and promising; it made her body burn with want. "Maybe... they're giving you the wrong kind of... physical therapy." Her lips barely brushed his as she spoke.

Quickly and effortlessly falling under Elena's sensual spell, Stefan couldn't tear his gaze from her lips. "What do you mean?"

She silenced him by placing a finger to his mouth. "I'm your nurse, remember? I know what I'm doing. I promise I'll help you feel much, much better." Stefan simply nodded with wide, green eyes, making Elena smirk. She lightly placed her hand over his thudding heart. "I want you to pull me close... by grabbing my waist."

Swallowing, Stefan ran his hands down her back until they were resting on each side of her hips. With his eyes only locked on Elena's, he easily gripped her hips just enough to pull her against him, still at a loss for words.

He was rewarded with a slow, but breathless kiss on the lips that left him wanting more. "Are you sure your stomach stopped hurting?" she whispered against his skin.

Elena wouldn't have been surprised if Stefan had currently forgotten how to speak, and she had to stifle a laugh. "Yes," he replied shakily, distantly. And then her lips ventured out to meet his again, and this time, he kissed back with just as much fervor, if not more. His hands lightly grazed the hem of her t-shirt before gripping it, and Elena smiled against his lips.

Physical therapy.

Daringly, she rolled on top of him, never once breaking the searing kiss. The pressure of Stefan's lips only increased and it made her heart soar, leap, attempting to reach out and meet his own like usual. She felt like she couldn't get close enough, and it was clear he wanted her just as badly.

It had been way too long since it had just been the two of them in their own world. But tonight...  
>Tonight they eagerly and desperately got lost in each other again.<p>

* * *

><p>"Stefan?"<p>

"Hmmm?"

"You awake?"

Elena watched through the darkness as Stefan's shoulders shook a bit with laughter. "No," he answered mockingly and drowsily. "I'm still dreaming."

Her lips curled up in a grin and she began to lightly trace her fingertips up and down along his spine, making little patterns against his skin. "I know you weren't asleep," she confessed lightly. "You haven't been sleeping much lately."

His broad shoulders rose and fell with a deep breath. With his sigh, Stefan turned around to face Elena, not bothering to fake a smile right now. If anyone could see what was truly beneath the surface, it was her. Even in the dark night, her eyes looked incredibly brown the second they met his as if some deep fire within her soul was igniting them from behind. "How did you know?" he wondered.

Her fingers grazed his cheekbone and he let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. Elena's cool fingertips brushed his overheated skin, almost lulling him to sleep, but for Elena, Stefan would stay up... just to be able to feel her touch and hear her silky voice. "You've been so depressed. Don't act like you haven't been trying to hide it."

Sometimes, he hated how well she knew him. "I don't want to drag you down with me," he admitted sullenly.

Elena's beautiful eyes dulled with concern, her fingers lingering at Stefan's lips. "I'd rather get dragged down than left behind." Her voice was gentle, but it was clear that she was worried about him. He frowned; she could feel it. "I want you to talk to me. That's what I'm here for."

"I just... whenever I close my eyes, I see headlights," he explained, his voice darker. Elena listened to him intently, lingering on every words. "I still remember -vaguely- the woman who hit me. I didn't see her face but I heard her scream. She, uh... she must've been the one to call 911. I think I heard her crying hysterically... but I don't know. I don't remember much from the actual crash. I was in and out."

"She was. It's a good thing she was fine." Moving a little closer to provide comfort, Elena rested her head on his shoulder. "They said you were conscious but unresponsive."

"It's all mostly a blur," he said. He loved the way Elena rested against him at the perfect moment, the way any touch managed to slow his nervously-paced pulse. "But I just keep thinking about what would have happened if I actually did die. If they hadn't saved me. The people I wouldn't have been able to say goodbye to... wouldn't be able to apologize to..."

"Like Damon," she finished with a solemn tone.

"Like Damon. It's just a haunting thought. One second you're here... you're alive. And the next... you're just not. And what about you? How would I be able to tell you that I loved you one last time?"

Those words chilled her to the bone. "It doesn't matter, Stefan. Because you're here. And right now, you're here with me. Someone was looking after you that night."

When Elena reached down to grab his hand, he managed to hold hers too, staring down at their connected fingers. He wasn't paying attention to the fact that he was doing it though; no, he was simply trying to get a mental image of Elena's fingers mingling with his own. "When was the last time I told you that I love you?" he asked with a low voice.

She wanted to remove that solemn look from his face, wanted to let him know that he in fact was here, that he had been given a second chance at life. But he knew that. And how could she blame him for getting scared, when even she sometimes ended up going back to that tragic night, wondering what if? But truly, none of that mattered. He was here. He was alive. "Every single day," she answered. "You tell me every single day."

Stefan lifted his gaze from their hands to look into her eyes again, and she was more than pleased to see that his smile had returned. And this time, it was real. "I love you," he whispered to her, in that quiet but loud voice of his that he only had for her.

"I know," Elena commented. She gently ran her thumb across his bottom lip, easily getting lost in his eyes despite the darkness. While the rest of the world was asleep, they were wide awake, and happy to be awake. "I love you too."

This time, when Stefan leaned his head forward to kiss her, she kissed back, but so softly it was replete with bruising tenderness and a strange sense of companionship that could never be replicated. She'd never felt closer to him, and in his arms, enveloped in his kiss, the thought of ever having spent time away from his loving hold seemed preposterous. This was where she belonged. In Stefan's arms. Through the thick and the thin, the good and the bad.

He felt the same, and she knew it. She definitely knew it.

Stefan managed to pull her against him, allowing himself to get lost in her for the second time that night. Where previously, every touch and every kiss had been ignited with this wild, passionate fire, this time... every touch and kiss was alit with a flame fueled by pure, selfless love, their bodies developing their own language.

This was where they belonged.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Yayyyy I finally updated! I've been working on this all week, LOL. I'm still on vacation, but I really wanted to update for you guys sometime! I'm leaving tomorrow, so I'll start to have quick updates again! :) Sorry for the wait! I hope you guys like the chapter. Apologies for lack of detail in the beginning- it was hard for me to get used to writing in the hotel room xP I usually NEED to be in my own bedroom! Haha<strong>_

_**What did you think of the chapter? And most importantly, what did you think of Stelena? I always want to make sure above everything that you guys are still pleased with them! :D Please leave a review with your feedback! Let me know what you loved, what you hated, and what you want to see!  
><strong>_

_**Thank you so much! :)  
><strong>_

_**Xoxo,**_

_**Sara **_


	19. Chapter 19

Stefan was laughing.

Elena, who felt like she had just fallen asleep, grumbled something angrily into his chest that just made it start to rise and fall with every chuckle. He could practically feel her crinkle her nose as she reached around to find a pillow to throw at him. After all, it wasn't the perfect time to be laughing, not after they'd practically exposed their souls and whole beings to one another.

Finally, she raised her head and shot him a death-glare that instantly made him stop. "What the heck, Stefan?" she demanded furiously.

He still couldn't wipe away his amused grin, and that seemed to only aggravate her more. "No, baby… it's not you," he promised with another chuckle. Elena only raised an eyebrow at him and he couldn't help but think of how adorable she looked; her cocoa hair, usually sleek and straight was matted from sleep while her normally relaxed eyes were filled with the tired annoyance of not being let in on a secret. "I was just thinking about how bad we are at keeping this a secret. Anybody who walked by us on the street would know we're together. I mean, the hospital visits, the house visits, even the way we were at the party. I'm sure your aunt knows that something's up."

Elena rested her head back on his chest, lightly trailing her fingers along the smooth, blue-green tattoo that he got on his eighteenth birthday; she never really did understand why he chose a rose of all things, but she loved it. She'd have to ask him that sometime. "Actually… I kinda, sorta, might have told her yesterday." When Stefan's eyes widened, she had to once again bury her face in his chest and laugh. "So to comment: yes. We do suck at keeping this quiet."

Letting his head freely fall back on the pillow, Stefan looked up at the ceiling. "You told Jenna?"

She paused a minute and bit her bottom lip. "Well, yeah. I mean there's no point in not telling her, since she'll find out in a few days anyway." And then she continued to trace his tattoo in a soothing manner, an attempt to make him relaxed enough so he wouldn't get mad over the news he was about to hear.

But he knew what she was doing. "Mmmm… and why would she find out within a few days?" He rested his cheek against the top of her head gently.

"Well, you see," she started nervously, "the show ended. And well… I got an email. They wanted us to come back and do the 'Stars Tell All' episode, which is in a few days. I RSVP'd and said I'd be there." Elena suddenly became very interested in chipping her nail polish. "It would be _really _nice if you decided to join me. I was thinking, you know, since it's over and no matter what we can't get back on it, we can tell people we got back together."

"Oh." Stefan shrugged his shoulders simply, and Elena glanced up at him confusedly.

"Oh?"

"That's it?" he asked pleasantly, making her laugh and move closer to him.

"That's it." Shaking her head, she placed a slow kiss to his neck. She almost swore that he was going to flip and say something about how they should stay out of the public eye. Huh. Maybe the tattoo-tracing thing worked. "Will you be my date?" she questioned playfully.

"With pleasure," he responded just as lightly. "I'll be glad to stop the insanity."

* * *

><p>"We're going to miss the plane! Oh my god, if we miss that plane I swear…"<p>

Caroline was running through the airport, her curled blonde hair bobbing up and down as she did so.

"Care, calm down!" Stefan laughed. "It won't leave without us. Promise."

"You don't know that! What if the pilot thinks we're there and we're not! You have no idea how much I want to be in a private jet, Stefan, and I will not let your slowness kill it!"

"Oh, yes," he teased. "Don't take into consideration that I wasn't even able to walk a week ago!"

Caroline giggled, rolling her eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned around to face them, waiting for everyone to catch up with her. "Fine. But next time when we have something really, really exciting to do and you're all better, I'm not givin' any slack! Am I clear, Stefano?"

"Crystal," he snickered.

Elena smiled at her friend's excitement, stepping closer to Stefan and tangling her fingers through his. Almost right away, with just a little unintentional hesitation, he did the same as her and gave a squeeze. That made Elena smile to herself; his reflexes were definitely getting much better, and almost absently, she rested her head on his shoulder. In public.

And it felt wonderful, especially when he leaned forward to kiss her forehead a second later.

"I'm still a little baffled," Bonnie commented, her voice pleasant. "The last time I saw you, you guys were as awkward as you've ever been –no offense– then you come back and you're, like, so in love it's insane." She laughed amusedly to herself.

Yes, Bonnie was there too, and Damon, though he was a little silent. After figuring she'd have more fun on the mini vacation with her best girlfriends _and _boyfriend, Elena decided to invite Bonnie and Caroline to California too; Stefan was all for it. Damon, on the other hand, pretty much invited himself, saying that if Stefan ended up with some –very unlikely– post-surgery issues and was back in the hospital, he needed to sign the papers, considering Stefan's bad hand and all.

"Well, Bonnie," Caroline piped in. "We all knew Stelena was gonna happen. It was love at first sight… or bite, considering that they had their first conversation when he asked her for some of her M&Ms."

"They were skittles!" Stefan and Elena both corrected at the same time, and they glanced up at each other with a similar grin.

"Oh my god! Yes!" Bonnie smiled. "The first day of fifth grade; we were all in Mrs. O' Daleigh's homeroom. Lena, you came up to us practically screaming! You said, 'look at that hottie over there! I just gave him all of my purple skittles!'" Bonnie and Caroline exchanged glances at the young memory, bursting out into a fit of giggles. Even Damon, who was looking oddly tense, smirked.

Elena was sure that her face was a bright shade of red, and she didn't dare take a glance at Stefan, who was obviously looking down at her amusedly. "I did not call him a hottie. I was in fifth grade, guys!" she defended.

"You did!" Caroline said. "I remember it vividly!"

Bonnie nodded. "You did."

Embarrassed beyond belief at this point, Elena buried her face in Stefan's shoulder and grumbled, "Oh look! There's our plane."

"Thank god," Damon groaned impatiently. "Well, come on everybody: Caroline, Bonnie, Elena… hottie."

Although she glared, she couldn't hide the way her lips curled up in a little smile. "Shut up."

* * *

><p>The hotel lobby was gorgeous. White marble floors covered every inch of the first floor, and in the dead center, leading up to some fancy looking rooms and an elevator was a white marble staircase. "Wow," Stefan muttered, staring around in awe. "The people of this show really know how to out-do themselves, don't they?"<p>

Damon didn't seem as pleased, his eyes scanning the lobby. "Are all of the contestants from the show staying at the same place?"

"I'd think," Elena replied, still too caught up in the amazing lobby, her brown eyes wide.

"I need a drink," he said flatly, quickly leaving the group. No one noticed too much though.

Soon, Stefan, Elena, Bonnie and Caroline were situated in the large suite they'd been given. It was nothing short of incredible, with a huge flat screen TV in every room, velvet carpets, and silk white sheets.

The girls had already ushered themselves into one of the bedrooms to gossip and watch some dramatic soap opera that Stefan had no interest in seeing. So, as he sat down on the white leather couch to relax, his gaze fell on something across the room: a light, acoustic guitar that was resting against the wall.

Standing up, he made his way over to the instrument, picking it up with stiff, -mostly- cooperative fingers. When he got back to the couch, he swung the strap over his shoulder and looked downed determinedly at the strings; it'd been a while since he played. His left hand, the one that was most cooperative with his brain, ran up the six strings until it rested on the frets. Stefan raised his right hand on the guitar reluctantly after grabbing the pick that was lodged between strings, and began to just hit "G" repeatedly. The pick missed the first few times he tried, and though it frustrated him, he refused to lose his concentration by letting it get the best of him. So, he tried again.

This time, he dropped it.

"Damn it!" he muttered under his breath. But he didn't want to give up; he wasn't the type of person to accept failure, so he continued to hit the string, this time simply using his finger. It worked much better, and within a few minutes he was able to play that note without missing, so he tried hitting another, and another. Then he started putting his fingers over the frets. After much concentration, Stefan was able to play a few notes after one another, until the familiar tune of a song he knew flooded his ears, making him grin triumphantly.

His fingers slowly but surely got into this rhythm. "_He was her long, bright future in the middle of a wrong, dark road. He loved her, but he wasn't too sure if he could return the love she showed_," he started to silently sing under his breath.

Stefan grinned. "_And she said my love extends beyond the realm of being friends. He kissed her head, and quietly he said…" _This overwhelming sense of invincibility took him over for a quick moment as he sang this irrelevant song to himself; he'd done it. He'd used his fingers and put them to use without a doctor standing over his shoulder, without _anyone _standing over his shoulder. He did it himself. "_It's not that you're not beautiful, you're just not beautiful to me. She said how beautiful do I have to be?"_

He didn't even notice Elena standing behind him until she leaned over and hugged him from behind, running her sensual hands along his chest, pressing her forehead against his temple. Her nose brushed his cheek, and she kissed the side of his face softly, slowly. "Mmm… keep going," she whispered, her voice so low only he could hear.

"_When I look in the mirror, you're the only thing I see. And I have loved you beautifully…" _The lyrics that came from his lips shook a bit now; Elena's warm, loving touches had that spectacular affect on him.

"Yes, you have," she responded deeply, pressing her soft lips to his face again, only this time, they lingered there. The action made Stefan's fingers stop, made his eyes close halfway from the intense rush of his pulse and flood of warmth that suddenly inundated his body.

"God, what did you do to me?" he asked, no, he _breathed_. Was it even possible to feel this way about someone? He loved her so much, it was almost frightening. Almost.

Elena didn't respond; she didn't have an answer. Because, honestly, what did Stefan do to _her? _The sight of him was enough to make her stomach flutter, enough to make her body ignite. "I'm proud of you," she said, smiling lovingly at him when he turned his head to look at her. "Using your fingers. Playing guitar again."

"It's just three notes," he commented nonchalantly, but Elena wouldn't have it. She knew he was exploding on the inside.

"It's progress. And you playing guitar: sexy." She purred the last word into his ear, and he shivered.

He began to smirk. "You calling me a hottie, Elena?" Stefan's eyes, now half filled with desire and half filled with amusement, bore into her chocolate ones, making Elena laugh.

"Maybe…," she teased. After placing a chaste kiss on his lips that had him aching for more –that was the point–, Elena strolled away until she was at the room's big white door. "I'm going down to the lobby to grab some ice cream for everyone. You want vanilla?"

"No," he sighed out dramatically, letting his head fall against the back of the couch. "I want you."

She bit her lip. "Vanilla it is."

He playfully glared at her as she shut the door. Elena couldn't contain her grin as she walked down the hallway; Stefan made her feel silly and crazy and so intensely in love… it all felt so cliché, like everything was coming out of a bad movie she'd never watch, but it was true. Young love wasn't made just for Romeo and Juliet. It was real. It was _so _real.

Skipping through the lobby, Elena made her way out on the pool deck, past the lunch stand, past the bar, headed to the ice cream stand.

Wait.

As soon as she walked to the other side of the bar, Elena froze when the blur of people she had just walked by settled into her brain. Brows furrowed and body suddenly tense, she slowly and hesitantly turned around. She had a bad, bad feeling.

No, her eyes hadn't been deceiving her. Sharing one barstool with a dark haired, long legged girl, Damon was there. And not only was this girl sitting in his lap, but she was kissing him hungrily, needily, possessively, as if they were two reunited lovers. Normally the sight of Damon and some random girl wouldn't have phased her at all, but this girl, Elena knew her.

The girl kissing Damon was Katherine Pierce.

Stefan's ex girlfriend.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Ahhhh and more drama unfolds! What will happen? Why is Damon kissing Katherine? What will Elena do, and what about Stefan? Review to find out!<strong>_

_**I hope you all liked this chapter. I think I may be ending the story in a few chapters :( *creys* lol. Please let me know if the Stelena was okay as usual, because, you all know that your opinions of my Stelena are what's most important for this story!**_

_**Please leave a review! They inspire me so much and they help me to make updates better by knowing what you like and what you don't. I lost a lot of reviewers last chapter because of my vacation hiatus, so I hope I haven't lost too many readers. **_

_**Thanks! **_

_**Xoxo,**_

_**Sara**_


	20. Chapter 20

_**Recap from previous chapters: **_

_"It's all mostly a blur," Stefan said. "But I just keep thinking about what would have happened if I actually did die. If they hadn't saved me. The people I wouldn't have been able to say goodbye to... wouldn't be able to apologize to..."_

_Those words chilled Elena to the bone. "It doesn't matter, Stefan. Because you're here. And right now, you're here with me. Someone was looking after you that night."_

* * *

><p><em>"Well, you see," Elena started nervously to Stefan, "Perfect Match ended. They wanted us to come back to California and do the 'Stars Tell All' episode."<em> 

* * *

><p><em>Normally the sight of Damon and some random girl wouldn't have phased Elena at all, but this girl, Elena knew her.<em>

_The girl kissing Damon was Katherine Pierce, Stefan's ex girlfriend._

* * *

><p><em><strong>CHAPTER 20<strong>_

Running back into the lobby as fast as she could, Elena tried to make sure the infatuated couple at the bar -Stefan's brother and ex-girlfriend- did not see her. Her mind spun with possible scenarios as to how that would have happened. Maybe Damon was eager to meet some girls and just happened to see Katherine; maybe they started to flirt and, knowing Damon and Katherine, it turned into more.

Somehow though, she knew that wasn't right. Not from the way that he kept asking about Katherine and mysteriously mentioning a girl that made him hate Stefan a little more each time he thought of her.

Something just wasn't making sense.

Elena wanted to gain the courage to turn back around, get the answers she desperately wanted, but for some odd reason, she just couldn't; she didn't want to face Katherine's cold glares of interruption, didn't want to come in contact with the girl who had darkened her stay during Perfect Match. She could always ask Damon once he got back upstairs...

But Stefan! Oh god, what would Stefan think of this?

Her mind and heart raced; would this crush him? Would he care? Could this distract him from getting better?

As these thoughts consumed her mind, she began to absently pace through the lobby, until she came in rough contact with a hard chest, making her and the tall man in front of her stumble. "I'm so sorry!" she started nervously, spitting out random apologies and excuses until she recognized the all-american face. "Peter!"

He smiled in response, his blonde hair blowing gently from the Californian breeze rushing through the open windows. "Sup, Lena?" His blue eyed twinkled, especially when Mia, who was obviously at his side squealed in a mix of delight and pity, running up to her and hugging her as tightly as she possibly could. The scent of too much Britney Spears perfume temporarily inundated her senses, but Elena didn't really mind.

"E-le-na!" Mia practically sang, giving her a long squeeze before letting go. "We all missed you soooo sooo much!" Smiling, Elena politely said that she had missed everyone too, but at the moment her mind was still concentrated on that odd moment at the bar. "How's Stefan? Oh my god! The things I read and saw on TV were scaring the living daylights outta me! I heard from somewhere that he lost, like, all of his memory... and another said he was actually dead for about thirty seconds! I almost had a heart attack..."

Laughing lightly, though talking about Stefan and his injuries was a touchy subject that brought up bad memories, Elena explained. "No. He didn't lose his memory. But he was... dead. They saved him. It was a miracle."

Mia, always one to get overly sentimental, teared up and gave Elena another huge hug. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Elena. You must have been so scared. At least he's ok. He's here, isn't he?"

"Yeah," she replied, forcing a smile. "You'll see him in a few days at the show."

"Epic," Peter drawled out, making Elena giggle a little bit. "Guess we'll see him then! We're about to go surfing and meet up with Janie and Jem... wanna come?"

Mia shook her head. "Baby, I'm sure she has more important things to do than go surfing."  
>"No!" Elena responded instantly. "I haven't had much fun lately, with everything that's been going on. I'd like that. I haven't surfed in a while." Internally, she let out a sigh of relief. This would give her time to make sense of Damon and Katherine and figure out exactly what to do about it.<p>

* * *

><p>"Ugh, where's Elena?" Caroline complained, plopping down on the couch beside Stefan. "I want my ice cream!"<p>

Approaching the main room of the suite and taking a seat on the chair across from them, Bonnie laughed. "You're like a little kid. It's not the end of the world if you don't get your scoop of strawberry. I promise, you'll have another in your lifetime."

Stefan, amused by their friendly banter, chimed in, "She probably ran into someone from the house. Can't you just order room service?" From the tone of his voice, it seemed as if he was not fully involved in their conversation; most of his concentration was on the acoustic guitar against his shoulder. He continued to play five different notes over and over again, his fingers only faltering about twice every minute.

"You're such a guy!" she complained. "Order room service? That means I actually have to order the ice cream, which means I'll end up getting like three scoops, which means I'll have to just go to the gym and I'm on vacation and I don't wanna work out..."

"Three scoops of ice cream won't do anything. You are ridiculous," Bonnie chuckled, shaking her head dismissively. She then turned her attention to Stefan, who was staring down at his fingers on the strings with furrowed brows. "You sound good," she complimented.

Stefan grinned softly and finally looked up. "Thanks," he said. "I'm trying... I know it makes Elena happy to see I'm actually making progress without angrily throwing things across the room."

"Awwww!" Caroline squealed happily. "You played guitar for her? On the couch! Oh my god! It's like that movie PS I love you! You know, minus the whole dying thing..."

"I'd hope minus the dying!" he laughed.

"So give us the details," Bonnie added, her eyes twinkling like a typical teenage girl listening for gossip -not that she was even going to spread it-. "Are you totally in love?"

He took the guitar off of his shoulder and set it on the ground, making sure to keep his head down so the girls couldn't recognize the sudden heat flushing to his face. "Yes," he answered shyly in a voice that the girls thought was absolutely adorable. "I'm definitely in love." Stefan laughed just a little bit as he stared ahead at something only he could see, a distant grin on his lips. "I'm in love with my best friend. Literally. Who would have ever thought that we'd be so..."

"Perfect together?" Caroline finished with a knowing smirk. She loved the way his face got red once again; To her in school, Stefan always seemed so mature, so refined... but when he was with Elena, whenever her name was merely mentioned, he turned into this stereotypical schoolboy who couldn't stop blushing and smiling like an idiot.

"Huh," he grinned. "We're perfect together?"

Bonnie dramatically rolled her eyes. "Come on. You know you are."

"I mean, everything feels perfect when I'm with her," he confessed, unable to get rid of that foolish smile. "But we've had a drama. We're not exactly the epitome of a perfect couple; we've never even been on a real date."

Arching her eyebrows, Caroline tilted her head. "Is that so?" Stefan nodded and she eagerly reached for the phone on the table beside the couch. "Well, Mr. Salvatore, that's about to change." 

* * *

><p>The sun was beginning to set in the pink sky when Elena finally entered the room again. She was sure she looked absolutely horrific, with her hair messy and beginning to curl from the water, and her clothes drenched. But nevertheless, she had thought things through and was going to discuss the Damon situation with Stefan tonight. "Sorry I disappeared, guys," she started busily as she entered the room. "I ran into Mia and..." She turned her attention upwards, and was shocked to find that no one was there. "Hello?"<p>

She furrowed her brows in absolute confusion. "Hello?" She tried again. No reply.

Where was everybody?

That was when she found her phone sitting right on the coffee table. Elena's lips formed an unsettled frown. She definitely hadn't left it there. Tiredly trekking over to the cell, she let out a sigh when she picked it up. As soon as she turned it on, a message displayed on the screen.

You have: 2 Voice Messages.

Still feeling beyond confused, Elena listened to it, only to hear a familiar voice.

"Hey, baby, it's me. Uh, Stefan. You're probably really confused right now, but don't worry! I'm not in the hospital and/or kidnapped. I was going to write you a note, but my fingers don't work. And according to Caroline, this is very 'PS I Love You'-ish, minus the dying." She giggled at this. "She and Bonnie rented a limo, I think... They're driving around the city so people think they're celebrities or something. And well, would you like to be my date tonight? If the answer's yes, put on your bathing suit and play my next message."

Elena momentarily forgot about Damon and Katherine as a lovestruck grin curled on her lips, taking over her entire face. Hurriedly, she ran into the room, changed into a bikini and a cover-up, brushed her hair out and grabbed her phone again, pressing send to hear the second message.

"Hi again! Hopefully this means that you've accepted my offer. So here's what I want you to do. Go to the elevator, and go to the highest floor you can; I think that's the 21st floor." Quickly, Elena paused the message and rushed to the elevator, pressing the up button. She could practically feel her heart racing in excitement and wonder. Once she got into the elevator and reached the 21st floor, she stepped into the hall and played his message again. "Now, walk to the very end of the hallway. You should see a smaller, dark hallway there that looks like it's heading nowhere. Follow it." So she did. "Now, at the very end, you should see a staircase... Walk up it. Okay?"

Smiling to herself, Elena quickly found the stairs and walked up. Instantly, she was greeted with the cool Californian air, quickly realizing that she was in fact standing on the roof of the hotel. She gasped at the sight; purple, blue, and red lights outlined the whole place, and the huge pool was illuminated with green lights. "Oh my god...," she whispered, gasping when she saw the jacuzzi. Everything was so fancy...

Stefan had definitely outdone himself.

Then finally, her gaze fell on his face, his bright, shining face that lit up even more when their eyes locked. Her heart skipped a beat. Practically floating, not even aware of the fact that her feet were moving, she made her way over to him and greeted him with a deep kiss. "Stefan!" she gasped once they broke apart. "This is incredible... I can't believe you did all this for me."

He smiled down at her almost nonchalantly, all of his undeniable love apparent in his fathomless pools of hazel. "Well, it's a date. Why not do it right?"

Elena giggled, happily leaning against him and just enjoying the way it felt to have his body against hers. Like they were two puzzle pieces.

But as she stared into his eyes, she remembered the moment that had been occupying her thoughts all night. "Stefan... I have to tell you something. And I don't think you're gonna like it." Her stomach lurched when she saw the confusion in his eyes, and she realized she was actually getting up the courage to tell him that she possibly knew why his brother hated him.

She opened her mouth to speak, but he interrupted. "It can wait," he said calmly, caressing her hair so softly that it seemed to relax her a little more, seemed to make her momentarily forget about all the drama and crave his touch, his lips. "Tonight, it's about us. You and me. Anything else is irrelevant. It's our first date, and nothing's going to bring it down." His voice was stern, determined. "Is it a matter of life and death?"

Elena smiled just a little and shook her head. "No."

"Then you can tell me first thing tomorrow if you still want to." He pulled her close and slowly began to place feather light kisses along her neck, affectively taking her thoughts off of the problem at hand and putting all of her concentration on Stefan, and how good it felt to be in his arms, victim to his kiss, to his toxic touch.

"Okay," she whispered through closed eyelids. After all, it wasn't as if this would change anything right away; maybe Damon and Katherine was nothing. She didn't have to worry. Not tonight.

Tonight, it was about her and Stefan.

"So, Mr. Salvatore," she chuckled, gazing up at him with loving and adoring eyes. "Now that you've got me up here, what do you want with me?"

"Nothing really," he joked. Stefan stepped away from Elena's warm embrace and walked over to the small table beside the pool, turning away from her. She simply watched as his head bent down a little bit and his elbows bent to let his fingers rest on the buttons on his plaid shirt.

"Do you need help?" she asked quietly after a long moment of peaceful silence.

"No," Stefan replied quickly, urgently; Elena couldn't see what he was doing but she had a feeling he was still struggling on the same button. "I can do this by myself," he said a little too frantically, more to himself than anyone.

Nibbling on her bottom lip, Elena smoothly approached Stefan's tense frame and nimbly ran her hands along his back beneath the shirt. His skin was smooth and warm beneath her fingertips."I know you can," she encouraged. "Just concentrate, Stefan." As she said this, Elena barely grazed her lips against the back of his neck. "Don't lose your cool."

She stepped away again to quickly remove her own cover up. Intently, she stared while Stefan determinedly worked to undo the button on his shirt, his back still to her. Her slender lips curled up in a proud grin when she saw his hands drop to his sides in accomplishment. He shrugged his shoulders back, allowing the shirt to slowly slide down his arms and collect at a pile on the ground. Briefly, when he moved a bit, and the purple light hit the skin of his back, she could have sworn that she saw him glowing before her, like her own virtuous, sinful angel.

Her virtuous angel, who was saved from death because he was undeserving of such an unpleasant demise at such a young age. Her flawlessly flawed angel who God had saved because he was simply too good to let go of. Because he was pure... and so was his fathomless love.

And her sinful angel... whose mere touches had the ability to leave tingling skin in their wake. Her desirable lover who never failed to make her breath catch at the most unlikely of moments. All it took was one look, one simple look for her to understand how much he loved her, how deeply and passionately he loved her. Truly, it made no sense at all most of the time -how much she loved him and wanted him when they were both still so young- and usually, no one else could fully understand. That wasn't important though, for she knew that he was the one person she was destined to be with just from those brief touches and momentary glances.

"This is why I love you," Elena breathed, knowing that he heard her. Finally, Stefan turned around with a smile on every inch of his handsome face. She didn't need to say anything else; he knew what she meant.

He nearly drifted over to her, and the next thing she knew, his forehead was against hers and she could taste his sweet breath against her lips with his every exhale. His shaky hands cupped her cheek through her hair and he just stood there, frozen. Stefan didn't kiss her, didn't say anything; he just merely stayed in Elena's embrace with his eyes closed. Elena kept her own eyes wide open though, taking in every detail of his naturally beautiful face, from the way his nose slightly curved, to the subtle, little birthmark past his right cheek. Just looking at him managed to give her chills. Had there really been a time when they hadn't been together like this, when they were merely friends? Because, honestly, it felt as if she'd never spent a single day of her life without Stefan's loving arms around her like this.

It was kind of funny to her, how this moment was so beautifully intimate and they didn't even have to be doing anything.

"Stefan...," Elena eventually started.

"Shhh," he cooed gently, never once opening his eyes. "I just need one more second." Elena slowly nodded, grinning up at him. She knew what he was doing; she could read him like a book. He was preserving this moment, taking in every sensory detail in case he was someday only left with the bittersweet memories of their time together.

Nearly dying had really changed Stefan's view on life; she saw the new wisdom in his eyes every time he opened them. Love to the fullest- that was his philosophy- because you never know if you'll get another tomorrow.

"I'm not going anywhere," Elena promised. "And neither are you." With those words, just as she had predicted, Stefan opened his eyes. She gave him a loving look, and he absently mirrored it. He believed her. "It's you and me... forever."

"I know," he replied softly. "Always."

Elena's face lit up, and suddenly, she could almost see her future -their future- flashing before her eyes. "I'll hold you to that," she teased, leaving a light kiss on his smiling lips. "Now let's enjoy our date." 

* * *

><p>Caroline and Bonnie giggled wildly, clinking their champagne glasses together in their huge limousine. "Everybody's staring at us!" Bonnie chuckled happily.<p>

"Indeed," Caroline smiled, grinning brightly at her curly-haired friend. "I have no idea why Stefan and Elena are so against the media. Let me tell you something, Bonnie, if I was famous I'd let them chase me everywhere!"

Bonnie's smile faded a little at those words. "You know why Stefan and Elena don't like the media, Care. You can't blame them, after all the stress they caused with his accident."

"Yeah," she sighed. "You think Stefan's gonna be okay?"

Bonnie nodded, glancing out of the moving window. "I think so... as long as Katherine doesn't screw things up between them this week. He sure doesn't need the extra stress of a psychotic ex."

"But they're the epic love!" the bubbly blonde objected. "Katherine's not going to get to them! Trust me. She didn't on Perfect Match. They're going to be just fine."

"Right... I guess." She smiled slightly in agreement. "Isn't it so weird to see them so..."

"Close?" Caroline finished with a giggle. "Yeah. It's cute though. I've never seen either of them so happy." 

* * *

><p>From the very top of the grand hotel, everything was quiet. The bubbles in the jacuzzi had long been turned off and the hot water was gradually beginning to cool. The only sound that could be heard was the occasional light splashing of water as Stefan or Elena barely moved in the hot tub.<p>

Her head was comfortably against his shoulder and he knew she was fading fast. Sometimes, it took her a few minutes just to finish a sentence because she lost her train of thought and ended up dozing off. He thought it was incredibly cute.

"St'fan?" she mumbled into his chest with that drowsy, half-asleep voice of hers that he loved. Relaxed, he placed a kiss on her shoulder and rested his forehead against her temple.

"Yes, love?"

"Are... are you gon'... marry me?" She snuggled even closer to him, and Stefan, amused by her sleep-talk, chuckled and grabbed her hand as effortlessly as he could.

"Someday," he answered softly, quietly. He wanted to be careful not to wake her, or fully wake her. Ever so gently, he just clasped and unclasped their hands together under the water.

"S'mday," she repeated. "D'you... love me?"

Stefan laughed under his breath. "You know I love you." He couldn't hold back his smile when Elena started giggling, a slow and low sound that made her stomach twitch a little bit against his

"You love D'mon?"

Stefan furrowed his brows a bit at this off-topic question. "Yes, of course."

"No matt'r what?"

He nodded slowly, brushing her wet hair away from her face. "Why are you asking, love?"

Elena didn't respond. Once again, it took her a few minutes until she started babbling again. "I like us. Where... we are right now. D'you like us?"

"Us?" he questioned with an arched brow, and Elena simply smiled in response, her eyes closed, ear pressed against his chest to hear the steady beats of his heart. Her strange Damon questions were quickly forgotten. "I love us, Lena. I don't want it any other way."

"Me either," she sleepily agreed. "I l've you cuz you're comfy."

Stefan couldn't stop laughing at his girlfriend's adorable words. "I think I need to get you into bed..."

"'Kay," she breathed. "But let's stay here."

Grinning softly, Stefan half-led, half-carried Elena out of the hot tub and over to a large couch-style beach chair that sat close to the pool's edge. He reached over to grab her cover up and some towels-their actual bathing suits had been lost somewhere at the bottom of the pool; they weren't really paying attention to what happened to them- and with fumbling fingers, helped Elena into the soft, blue, strapless dress.

Then, he carefully covered Elena up with the fresh, white towels, sliding in beside her. She was already resting away from him on her side, so he wrapped his arms around her and placed a slow kiss in between her smooth, olive-toned shoulder blades. "Goodnight, Elena," he whispered. "Love you."

Elena sighed out dreamily and absently cuddled into Stefan's strong, warm arms. "Love you." 

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Oh my god! It's been soooo long since my last update and for that I'm truly sorry! I've had the most terrible writer's block lately and I'm finally getting over it, thanks to that wonderful and inspiring episode of TVD on Thursday! OH MY STELENA! It was beautiful :')<strong>_

_** It was a much needed break though... I think my writing was beginning to suffer and now hopefully I can get back on track, LOL.**_

_**I know this chapter wasn't perfect, sorry if I'm a little rusy. Haha. I'm trying. Please give me your honest feedback and let me know what you thought. Was the Stelena okay? (because you all know that's what matters the most to me :D) I know this was mostly fluff, but I promise next chapter will be the Stars Tell All episode and you will see how Elena will deal with the Damon/Katherine kiss. Please let me know what you loved, what you hated, and what you want to see more/less of.**_

**_I hope I didn't lose too many readers! I promise the next chapter will come much sooner, as long as you guys still want it! Thank you and I'm sooo sorry again!_**

**_Xoxo,_**

**_Sara_**


	21. Chapter 21

_**AN: Prepare yourselves for lots of fluff!**_

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><p>Elena was slowly roused from sleep when the bright Los Angeles sun shone into her eyes, though she was still not willing to open them. Letting out a little sigh, she realized she felt awfully cold without Stefan's arms around her, without his protective and comforting presence next to her- or pressed against her. Where was he? Her hazy mind raced with possible scenarios; what if he left to get breakfast, or maybe he was in the pool, collapsed and unconscious from some post-injury disaster...<p>

Okay, no, she told herself. She was definitely overreacting. Her heart raced with anxiety, and she was almost afraid to open her eyes; it was stupid, she knew, but waking up without him just made her feel... empty. On edge. When she finally did open her eyes, it was quickly followed by a huge sigh of relief. Her gaze fell on the little wooden shower at the other side of the roof -seriously, what didn't this hangout have?- where water was steadily flowing across the concrete and collecting in a drain. Elena's heart instantly returned to its normal pace; she hated how nervous she felt nowadays, after Stefan's injury, after realizing that he was merely human, that she was merely human... and that life -his life, specifically- was more fragile than it seemed one month ago.

Slowly, Elena sat up with sore muscles, her feet lightly hitting concrete. She took a moment just to smile at the pink skyline of the city as the sun started to rise over the gray-blue buildings. She wanted to imprint this image into her mind, save it for when there was a dreary day at home. She would always remember this place, this city... the things she felt here. The man she fell in love with. Well, not just any man. Her best friend.

Elena silently made her way over to Stefan's shower, smiling to herself as she stood outside of the blue, wooden door. Under the loud pelting of the water, she could hear him singing. Singing and humming! She had to stifle her giggle, though it was nearly impossible once she realized what exactly the song was.

"Baby you light up my world like nobody else," he sang quietly and Elena nearly fell over right then in hysterical laughter, especially when he started humming he rest of the song because he didn't know the words until he got to, "You don't kno-o-ow, you don't know you're beautiful."

Elena couldn't help herself now, and the laughter flooded out of her lips like water being released from a dam. "That's what makes you beautiful!" she sang-shouted back, and in response she heard a loud thump -probably Stefan hitting the wall of the shower because he was so startled and embarrassed by her presence- followed by some very out of character cursing that made her nearly collapse in laughter.  
>"Shut up!" he chuckled back. Elena grinned to herself and discreetly opened the creaky shower door, stepping inside. There was a small bench next to the archway, which Stefan was on the other side of, and she took a seat.<p>

"Gosh, Stefan," she teased, resting her back against the wall. "No need to sound like a teenage girl! Oh wait, I forgot... you are one, you closet boy band fangirl!"

Peeking his head out from the archway, Stefan glanced at her playfully. "I believe they're called One Direction, love. And I deny that!"

"Mmhmm," she sighed sarcastically, giving him that joking look that made him return to his shower, out of her line of vision. She loved this side of Stefan, the soft, playful side that very few people got to see. She highly doubted that anyone would believe her if she told them that he was singing pop music in the shower... she didn't care though. She liked it. There was a part of Stefan that was reserved for her and her alone. It was what she loved so much about him. It had always been that way; it was nothing new. Even in middle school, Elena was that one person he could truly be himself with, the one person who could get past that thick layer of brooding and pondering; she always saw him for who he truly was. "You know, you really out-did yourself with the whole date last night."

"It was worth it," he replied over the spraying of the shower. "It was Caroline's idea."

She chuckled. "I'm glad we got to go on our first real date."

Stefan responded almost instantly. "Me too."

Sitting there for a long moment, Elena just smiled, happily getting lost in her pleasant thoughts. She had no idea if he even realized he was doing it, but Stefan began to hum once again; this time it was some One Republic song she couldn't remember the name of. She knew exactly how it sounded though; how could she forget? Obviously Stefan hadn't forgotten either.

The memories filled Elena's mind, and she easily got lost in them for a few minutes.

* * *

><p><em>Elena absently twiddled with her thumbs as she sat in the darker corner of the school gym. She wasn't even into these high school dances anymore; they were boring. She wanted to enjoy the decade dances, smile and dance with her friends, but she just wouldn't let herself. How could she possibly learn to smile and laugh again when her parents were gone forever?<em>

_Sophomore year sucked. It felt like she was in some weird limbo between living and... not living. She didn't want to live, that was for sure. So now, as happy couples pressed against each other on the dance floor, slow dancing to that overplayed One Republic song, she sat alone. Matt was probably looking for her, or maybe not. Maybe he was dancing with someone else. That was fine too. She honestly didn't care._

_"'Lena?" the quiet voice snapped her out of her depressing thoughts, and she looked up, only to be met with Stefan's green eyes. He was wearing one of Damon's suits that was a little too big, and his hair softly fell onto his forehead over his eyes- she had tried to gel it back for him earlier, but it had a mind of its own. Or maybe Katherine, his older girlfriend who wore skimpy clothes that should have been purchased by a third grader, had dragged him off earlier for steamy, stolen kisses in the hallway. _

_"Where have you been?" Elena asked timidly, though she feared that she already knew the answer. _

_"Looking for you!" he said breathlessly. "I couldn't find you and I got worried." He nervously smoothed out his oversized suit and stared at her, concern apparent in his eyes. _

_Elena looked up at her best friend and smiled sadly. "Here I am." _

_"Why aren't you dancing?" he questioned with a worried tone, propping himself up to sit on top of the table she had been leaning against._

_"Don't feel up to it," Elena breathed out. "Shouldn't you be with Katherine or something?" The words came out a little too harsh than she had intended._

_Stefan answered calmly, "I didn't invite her." Elena was a bit taken aback by his words, but she didn't bother to ask why; she always could later. Instead of replying at all, she fixed her gaze on the floor. "You're thinking about your parents, aren't you?"_

_She hated how well he knew her. "Can you just take me home, Stefan?"_

_"Sure, sure," he answered immediately, quietly grabbing her by he arm and escorting her out of the gym and out into the school parking lot. That same damn slow song -that was starting to get on Elena's nerves- could still be heard from outside. She huffed and started walking even faster, realizing after a few seconds that Stefan was no longer following her. So, slowly, she turned around, her gaze landing on him. He was about fifteen feet away under the street light, standing still._

_"What are you doing?" she said, annoyed._

_"I'm not leaving until you dance at least once," he answered stubbornly. Despite her depression, Elena couldn't fight the little smile that curled on her lips. Crossing her arms over her chest, she kept her gaze on him._

_"You're not getting me back inside." _

_"Okay." Stefan smiled a little. "Then dance right here." He pointed right next to himself, making Elena roll her eyes. "You look beautiful, 'Lena. Might as well at least put your 50's outfit to use once, right?"_

_When he called her beautiful, her heart picked up speed a little bit. He didn't even like dancing, but she knew he wanted her to have fun despite her overwhelming depression. "It's a slow dance though." She didn't want to awkwardly sway with her best friend..._

_"So pretend I'm Matt," he joked. Elena, giving up, laughed a little and dramatically placed her hand in his, swaying back and forth as the rhythm of the slow song played from inside. She'd never tell him this, but she didn't want to pretend he was Matt; dancing in Stefan's arms... her best friend's arms... seemed to temporarily cure her depression. And after that song ended, a faster one played. She was ready to go, but Stefan told her they could stay for one more._

_So there they were, dancing together in the parking lot like idiots, but for a little while, Elena was able to forget. Forget about the pain... Because he made her feel alive again. And that was the night that she realized her feelings for her friend may have been more than just a high school crush; was she falling in love with him?_

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><p>Elena smiled lightly at the memories; though some were sad, they made her heart race with warmth to know that Stefan had been by her side through all of it. And now, as he gently hummed that same song to himself in the shower, she realized for the billionth time that she was absolutely, undeniably, eternally in love with him.<p>

"I wish you were my first kiss," she said aloud dreamily, smiling lovingly in front of her.

"Well, I hope to be your last," he answered back, and Elena jumped upon realizing that she'd said it out loud. Her cheeks flushed with warmth.

"You weren't supposed to hear that!" she giggled, burying her face in her hands. Suddenly, she squealed in surprise when she felt Stefan's warm, wet arms circle around her waist as he carried her with him under the hot spray of the shower. Squirming, she tried to escape as the water soaked her blue cover up and Stefan buried his face into the crook of her shoulder, nuzzling her neck. "Stop! Stop! Stefan!" she laughed loudly. He put her down and she hit his chest playfully. "Why did you do that?" she shouted.

He only responded by giving her a long, lingering kiss that left her breathless. "I love you!" he proclaimed as if he was telling the world.

"I love you." She kissed him again but quickly pulled away, smiling brightly. "And why are you in such a good mood this morning?"

"I woke up for the first time in a while feeling... great. No pain at all," he said pleasantly. "And I woke up next to you."

Then he covered her face with kisses that sent her heart fluttering. "You wake up next to me almost every morning."

At that point they just gave up on this playful banter and allowed their lips to collide. Stefan's fingers tangled into Elena's dark hair while her own roped through his chestnut locks; at the moment, their biggest concern was how to get as close as possible. Elena could feel his smile against her own lips, and it only lightened her own mood. It had been a while since Stefan had been this happy, and she never wanted to ruin it. When he was happy, she was happy.

And as they stood under the pelting water, kissing so passionately but lovingly nonetheless, Elena had never felt more alive.

After all, you're supposed to be with the person who makes you feel glad that you're alive...

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><p><em><strong>AN: Finally! An update! I'm so sorry! School is ending in a few weeks, and things are absolutely crazy! I know this chapter was pretty much pointless fluff, but I've just been in this loser lovey-dovey mode after STEFAN AND ELENA KISSED in the finale and I had to write it! I promise that next chapter the story will unfold more and you'll see more angst. I call this chapter the calm before the storm...<strong>_

_**Please review! Let me know what you thought- what you loved, what you hated, etc. Every comment -good or bad- means the world to me and each one inspires me to make the time to update as soon as I possibly can! I may not be able to update within a few days like usual, because I am giving a speech in a few weeks (so I'll be working on that a LOT) but if you guys want me to update, I will when I can!**_

_**Thanks so much! Xoxo :)**_


	22. Chapter 22

_**AN: I can't believe it guys, and I hadn't expected it, but this is the last chapter :(**_

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><p>Discreetly, Elena and Stefan, hand in hand, sauntered through their suite's door. They were grinning slightly and secretly, the main indication that their date had been more than perfect. Stefan silently closed the door behind them, an attempt not to wake any of their roommates.<p>

"Have a good date?" Caroline asked from the couch, making Stefan and Elena jump and dart their gazes to the blonde girl giggling mischievously.

"Caroline," Elena breathed, biting her lip to hide her grin. Her hand, which had previously been entwined with Stefan's, moved up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "We thought everyone would still be asleep."

Caroline rolled her eyes playfully. "We've been up! Bonnie went surfing, Damon ran off." She furrowed her brows. "No… he _snuck _off."

"Of course he did," Elena muttered under her breath, so quietly that no one –Stefan– could hear.

"Hey, I'm not complaining though!" Caroline continued, her voice as perky as ever. "No Damon is absolutely _fine _with me. You guys ready for that Stars Tell All show today?"

"I guess so," Elena shrugged. "It'll be good to finally announce that we are together again." She smiled at her friend, but when she heard no response from Stefan, she furrowed her brows. "Right, Stefan?" He was being awfully quiet…

Confusedly, Elena turned around, her eyes landing on Stefan's distant face and furrowed brows. "Stefan?"

After blinking a few times, he glanced around with dazed eyes. "Yeah, yeah, it'll be, it'll be good…" He forced out a smile that only worried Elena more.

"You okay?" Caroline asked, her voice suddenly not as high as before.

"Of course," he answered flatly. "I'm just going to get a little more sleep. I'm tired."

A little smirk curled on Caroline's face as she looked between the two of them. "I bet you are," she chuckled.

Elena, though, wasn't convinced. "You slept fine last night. You shouldn't be tired."

Stefan sighed out deeply. "I just want a little nap… Just an hour, love." He gave her a quick, reassuring peck on the lips, while Caroline was still swooning over the fact that Stefan called Elena 'love.'

"I'll go with you, then," Elena argued, concerned with the sudden bags under Stefan's eyes. He didn't bother arguing, so she took him by the hand and slowly led him into the room with the bigger bed. Maybe now would be a good time to tell him about Damon and Katherine…

His back hit the cool, white sheets, a quiet, relaxed moan escaping his lips as his eyes drifted closed. Turning onto her side, Elena gazed at Stefan's handsome features. His face, tilted towards her own, was completely breathtaking; it always was. Every day, she couldn't help but ask herself how on earth she'd gotten so lucky. A love like this, it seemed too good to be true, too perfect to last. Would it? She couldn't help but wonder… what would happen when senior year was over, when Stefan would inevitably go to Stanford and be forced to leave her behind? Maybe she would follow him. She'd happily follow him across the universe if it meant that they could share little moments like this… simple moments when she would just stare at him and he wouldn't mind one bit.

Still keeping his eyes closed, Stefan leaned forward and kissed the very tip of Elena's nose. She crinkled it, giggling. His lips curled up in a relaxed smile, his arms winding around her waist. "You feeling okay, baby?" she whispered lightly, her foot slowly running up and down his calf.

"Mmmhmm." Stefan rested his forehead against hers. "My chest hurts a lil'."

"Oh." That was understandable. After all, his chest was repeatedly pressed on by electric paddles a few weeks ago. As much as she wanted to tell him about the things she had seen, she figured it could wait another hour, until he was feeling less pain. "I thought you said you were getting better though…"

"I thought so too," he shrugged. "Don't worry, Lena. I'm okay." He kissed her lips again, and again, and again, in soft, gentle kisses that made her heart swell with that longing feeling he seemed to always emit to her. She never wanted to forget this, never wanted to lose these precious moments…

When Stefan pulled away, she lightly ran her fingertips along his cheekbones until his breath softened and he was no longer awake. Smiling lightly, she closed her eyes, rested her head over his heart, and gave herself to sleep also.

* * *

><p>The moon was shining brightly overhead, and Katherine pressed her hands against her tight dress to smooth it out. There were seats and cameras neatly set up on the beach for the Perfect Match televised reunion, not that she wanted to be here. "I haven't seen much of Stefan," she commented, glancing back at the dark haired man at her side.<p>

"He's been with Elena," Damon replied coolly, quickly. "Why does it matter to you?"

Kat smirked to herself. She had to admit, she loved getting Damon worked up; it was so easy, and _so _amusing. "I missed him. Is that so wrong?" she said slyly, glancing at him from over her shoulder, enjoying the way that his shoulders tensed.

"So what was the point of doing this show?" Damon questioned, changing the subject. "To get publicity? Find Stefan and figure that everything could just be all flowers and unicorns now that…"

"Now that you weren't there?" she finished with a raised eyebrow. Katherine giggled to herself, pushing her long curls behind her shoulder. "Gosh, Damon… I didn't know you were the jealous type." Placing her hand on his chest, she stared at him. "I've spent all weekend with _you_, haven't I?"

He nodded, putty in her hands. "I'm surprised you're even here, Damon," she continued. "I mean, I figured you'd feel so terrible about… the things we did… when I was still with Stefan that you'd never want to see me."

Damon's lips curled up in a half-genuine smirk, while his eyes glimmered with the smallest bit of shame. "I can't feel guilt if I enjoyed every second with you..."

Katherine had to resist the urge to roll her eyes, so instead, just to make him stop talking, she kissed him slowly and seductively, the way he liked it.

That was when they heard the clearing of a throat a few feet away. There Elena stood, hands on her hips, eyes set in a glare. "You two should go to hell," she whispered venomously. Damon and Katherine both quickly turned their heads, eyes wide with alarm. Without even having to hear their voices, she knew what they would ask. "Everything. I heard everything."

Damon looked like a deer caught in headlights. "You can't tell Stefan."

"Why not?" Elena spat. "You are the worst person I've ever met! How dare you let Stefan's girlfriend cheat on him… and with _you_! What is wrong with you?"

"He can't help it that he loves me," Katherine amusedly commented. Elena was seriously considering slapping her.

"You left town because you'd created such a mess between Stefan and Damon, didn't you?" Elena asked angrily. "And then, as soon as he gets here, you're all over him. I saw you kissing on the first day here. Funny though, during the show, all you said you wanted was Stefan."

Katherine gritted her teeth together. "I can't help what I felt for both of them!"

Damon looked between them with a panicked look on his face, a look that Damon _never _had. "Elena, you _can't _tell Stefan!" he stressed again.

"Can't tell Stefan what?"

Oh no. Oh _no._

As if on some terrible cue, there Stefan was, arms crossed over his chest, eyebrows arched in confusion. Katherine, for once, was not smirking, and Damon looked like a rock as he stared at Elena, as if he was mentally pleading for her not to say anything.

"You _coward,_" Elena spat at Damon.

"What the hell is going on?" he said nervously.

"Maybe I should explain," Katherine said with a blank expression. "You see, Stefan… when we were together I loved you very, very much. You should know that. But I'm sure you've noticed some… tension with Damon since then, hmm?"

Stefan's face was full of complete confusion.

"Stefan…," Damon started.

Elena bit her lip. "She cheated on you, Stefan. With your brother."

That was when she saw it all come crashing into Stefan's brain like a truck colliding into a building, everything snapping together and falling apart at the same time. "Wh-what?" he stuttered, looking at Damon. "You wouldn't do that to me…"

Damon looked away shamefully.

"You? My brother." It worried Elena just how calm Stefan was being; she could see the anger welling up behind his eyes, could see the tension in his clenched fists.

"You seem upset," Katherine noted to the younger Salvatore. "Why? Still have feelings for me?"

Then, Stefan turned his head to hers, with a glare so harsh that Elena wouldn't have been surprised if Katherine turned to stone and shattered into a million pieces right there. "You? No, Katherine. Not one bit. I'm glad I didn't waste my time with you. But Damon," he looked back at his brother again. "I can't fathom it. That my own brother…"

"Elena's known for a few days apparently. She didn't bother telling you anything," Katherine added in. Stefan flinched, though he didn't pay much attention to her comment. His concentration was on Damon.

Stefan laughed. He actually laughed, a dry, humorless chuckle that broke Elena's heart.  
>"Helping me through my accident… you just did that so I'd bring you closer to Katherine, didn't you?"<p>

Damon furrowed his brows. "Stefan, don't do this…"

That was when they heard the director's "We are live in five minutes!"

Stefan looked back at the director once, then at all three of them. First to Katherine, then to Elena, then at Damon, before slowly walking off in another direction. The three of them just stood there for a moment in silence.

"Well I think he overreacted," Katherine sighed.

Damon glared sharply at Elena. "What were you thinking! Why the hell would you tell him that? Now of all times?"

She faced him threateningly, giving him a slap on the face that sent him flying back. "He had to know! You obviously weren't planning on telling him."

"Sure I would've, eventually," Rubbing his cheek, Damon corrected her.

Elena huffed nervously. "I'm not doing this right now. The show. I can't It's not important. I'm gonna go talk to him." And with that, she ran off to find Stefan.

It wasn't hard to find him; he was sitting close to the waterline about five minutes down the beach, almost frozen, except for his finger which drew the same circle over and over again in the sand. He was a few hundred yards away now, and she could only make out his dim silhouette. His head was down, concentrated on that circle.

Hesitantly, Elena approached him and silently sat down beside him. He didn't glance up though, and when she heard the little sniffle from him, her chest ached. Oh, god… he was crying. Stefan Salvatore, her best friend and lover, who had always held the weight of the world on his shoulders, was finally coming undone.

She spoke after a long pause. "I know you're not crying about Katherine actually cheating," she stated. "So talk to me. What's bugging you?" Her voice was soft and gentle, yet firm; Stefan often spoke to her like this when she was upset.

He didn't answer for a long time, so she waited patiently. "I don't know," he breathed out in a shaky voice, refusing to lift his head. "I don't even know…"

Bringing her knees up to her chest, Elena stared at him intently. "You want me to tell you what I think?"

No response.

"I think… that you feel betrayed. That you thought you were finally getting your brother back, and now you realize that you're not. But it's not just Damon that's bothering you, is it?" Elena placed her hand over Stefan's—the one that was drawing the circle. She stopped it from moving and gently caressed the back of his palm. "You're taken off guard. You feel… alone."

"Alone," he repeated, finally lifting his head. He looked out at the ocean. "I just… no matter how hard I try, something's always missing. Every day. Every time I wake up. And my brother, he's the only family I have… The only person I've known forever. The one person I have who's like…"

"Your mother?" Elena bit her lip. Although they'd discussed everything and nothing together, the topic of Stefan's mom had always been a touchy subject. She seemed to be one thing he kept bottled inside… as if every memory of her was so delicate, something he had to hold close and never let go of, never share.

"Yeah," he laughed halfheartedly. "I miss her. My father was never around; I don't remember him much, but my mother… she just had this thing about her. I can't explain it… she just made you feel… okay. No matter what."

Elena could feel tears welling in her own eyes as her best friend opened up to her about the one thing he hated to talk about the most.

"I just… sometimes I think things would be easier if she were here."

"I know," Elena whispered, wrapping her arms around his broad shoulders and pulling him close to her. "I feel the same with my mom. But the thing is, she's gone… and as much as we hate it, nothing can change that. You have Damon, Stefan. He loves you, even if he did get caught up with Katherine. And if you can't forgive him now, you have time. And hey, I know I'm not the best in the world, but no matter what, you'll have me."

Elena smiled softly when Stefan rested his wet cheek against her shoulder. "And I know you think you have to be strong," she whispered. "Strong for me, for everyone… but sometimes, like now, when you just need to cry, it's okay. I'll always be here."

After a brief pause, Stefan wrapped his arms around Elena. "I love you so much," he breathed. He didn't even know why he was crying anymore; he just had to; he'd kept so many emotions bottled up inside, and in her arms, he knew her words were true. With Elena, he would never be alone.

"I know," she said softly. "I love you too."

She didn't know how long they stayed there, locked in this embrace. Elena couldn't help but smile. There she was, holding her best friend, holding the kid who gave her all of the skittles he didn't like in fifth grade, the little boy who illegally downloaded movies onto his PSP, the friend who made her dance in a parking lot all night during the school dance, the man who taught her what it really felt like to love and to be loved. Together, they had faced so many challenges, but somehow, they always made it through. And they still had challenges to face, there was no doubt. But they knew one thing for sure: together, they were inseparable.

Because after all, they were the perfect match.

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><p><em><strong>AN: Okay, not exactly how I imagined ending it, and I'm not sure how I feel about this. So sorry if it wasn't up to par :S <em><strong>Sorry I didn't get this out sooner. I've been taking a bunch of exams! Summer is almost here though, so make sure to check my page for new stories very soon!<strong>_**_

_**Thank you all so much for reading this fic with me and sticking with me through the whole thing! You all have no idea how much you mean to me :) Every time I see a favorite or a review for this story, the biggest smile comes on my face! It's so sad to say that this is over, but everything has to end eventually, right? Maybe one day I'll write a sequel... we'll see :)**_

_**Please leave me one last review and let me know what you thought of this story; it'd mean so much to me! Thank you so much!**_

_**Xoxo**_

_**Sara**_


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